Officially Eliminated from Postseason Contention, Harvard Falls at Yale 80-60

Harvard men’s basketball (14-12, 5-8 Ivy) traveled south to New Haven on Friday night after a heartbreaking 71-68 overtime loss to Brown (11-17, 7-6 Ivy) that effectively ended the Crimson’s postseason hopes. After playing a grueling 45 minutes against the Bears, Harvard faced an arguably even more challenging opponent in first-place competitors Yale (20-8, 11-2 Ivy) in its Saturday matchup.

In front of a lively atmosphere at Payne Whitney Gymnasium, the Bulldogs and the Crimson exchanged runs early in the first half. Similarly to the night prior against the Bears, Harvard struggled to get the points flowing off of tip-off, quickly falling into an 18-3 deficit.

The Crimson was able to find its form however, and behind a few fast-break points from first-year guard Malik Mack, went on a 14-1 run to bring the score to 19-17, advantage Yale.

Trading blows for the next five minutes, the contest remained a one-possession game, 30-27, with just over four minutes left in the first half.

From that point on, however, it was all Yale, as the Bulldogs used an 14-3 run to go into halftime with a commanding 44-30 lead. Harvard would not pull closer than 11 points of the lead in the second half, with the buzzer eventually sounding with the final score of 80-60.

“We’ve had a tough weekend,” head coach Tommy Amaker said. “We had a tough loss last night, and certainly we tried to come here with a spirit to fight and claw. They are an outstanding team. They have great balance. I thought they played exceptionally well. They got it going and put us in a hole really early.”

Harvard held its own in rebounds, matching Yale’s total of 36 with 35 of its own. The two teams also shot roughly an identical 40 percent from three-point range, but the Bulldogs excelled within the arc, making 32-52 attempts from the floor at 51.6 percent shooting.

Yale’s seven-footer, Danny Wolf, put the memory of his quiet performance in Cambridge earlier in the season behind him, scoring a game-high 16 points on 5-of-11 field goals.

In other Ivy League play, Brown tipped off against Dartmouth an hour before Harvard’s matchup, meaning that news of the Crimson’s elimination from Ivy Madness had been confirmed shortly after play resumed in the second half, due to confirmation of a Brown victory.

In addition to its starters, first-year forward Luca Ace-Nasteski and first-year guard Xavier Nesbitt also recorded significant minutes against Yale. Coach Amaker spoke about the team's effort, especially in the closing stages, after the game.

“I was proud of a few of our guys who played late in this game when the game was decided, but they really competed hard,” Amaker said. “Luca did a tremendous job of showing his mettle here tonight.”

Harvard concludes its season at Dartmouth on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

— Staff writer Alexander K. Bell can be reached at alexander.bell@thecrimson.com.