Harvard Men's Basketball Drops In-State Battle with Northeastern

Despite a gritty effort, the Harvard Crimson men’s basketball team (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) could not get the job done on Tuesday, falling 77-60 against Northeastern (2-1, 0-0 CAA). The loss is the first of the season and wraps up the opening three-game homestand.

Following a dominant win against MIT and a comeback-driven victory against New Hampshire, the Crimson hoped to finish off the opening-week homestand strong against its in-state rival.

Despite the clear offensive firepower that the Crimson have shown this season, Harvard’s attack could not get going against the Huskies. Harvard shot just 37% from the field, including 30% from behind the arc.

The game was competitive throughout the first half. Harvard faced a 34-27 deficit after 20 minutes of action. Despite the team shooting 1-8 from three, the team’s tenacious defense kept the game close.

Northeastern’s momentous runs throughout the second half proved too much for the Crimson. Led by solid three-point shooting from junior guard JB Frankel, the Huskies went on a 15-6 run to open up the second half and never looked back. Northeastern shot a blistering 50% from three and nearly 50% from the field due to their ball movement and kick-out perimeter strategy. Harvard on the other hand, though hot from the three, would remain inefficient on the offensive end.

A key difference that Northeastern brought to the table against Harvard was their size. With agile size in forwards Xander Alarie and Youri Fritz, the Huskies forced the Crimson to space out wide, a strategy that forced Harvard to take low-percentage looks in the mid-range or shoot from outside. This length also proved decisive on the defensive end, with Northeastern grabbing a number of key rebounds that stemmed the Harvard offense.

“You know, we were really not good with the ball, turnovers, which led to a lot of points for them,” said head coach Tommy Amaker after the game. “I thought they just bludgeoned us on the glass and at times made it look so easy. Give them the credit.”

Harvard lost the turnover battle 18 to 8, with the Huskies racking up double-digit steal numbers. Northeastern had a 16-point advantage from points off of turnovers, an important statistic to reflect on.

Still, there were some notable bright spots throughout the game. Senior guard Chandler Piggé continued his strong play, tallying 15 points and getting to the free throw line often with his aggressive drives. Sophomore guard Tey Barber also chipped in with 12 points, shooting 4-8 from the three. Barber has emerged as the Crimson’s best deep-ball threat as the team continues to find their footing from three.

Key contributor sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath returned to full form against Northeastern, totaling 8 points. Junior forward Luca Ace-Nasteski also returned to action with 7 points.

A player to keep an eye on is sophomore guard Austin Hunt. Hunt hurt his ankle in the middle of the second half. His status is unknown at this time.

A highlight from the team was freshman forward Ryan Sullivan. Sullivan played substantial minutes in the game, leading the Crimson in rebounds (7) and blocks (3).

“He has pop and bounce off the floor, and being a freshman, he’s learning and getting stronger,” said Amaker.

Despite the loss, Amaker takes the game as a lesson learned for the players.

“Not everything is right when you win and not everything is wrong when you lose. It’s our job to not just look at the numbers and the final score. It’s to go analyze and see where the things are that we did a good job but didn’t finish,” Amaker said.

The Crimson look to bounce back as they go on a road trip weekend against Army on Saturday and Marist on Sunday before facing Big Ten foe Penn State.