Men's Basketball: Florida Atlantic Preview

Four days after a 58-57 loss to Holy Cross knocked the Harvard men’s basketball team (1-1) out of the Top 25, the Crimson will retake the court against the Florida Atlantic Owls Thursday night (8:00 P.M., Lavietes Pavilion). Below, The Back Page takes a look at the three main things to keep your eye on as Harvard aims to regain its footing.

An Awkward Homecoming: Florida Atlantic coach Mike Jarvis interviewed for the Crimson job in 2007, which was later awarded to current Harvard coach Tommy Amaker. Jarvis got payback last January, when the Owls handed Harvard its only blowout loss of the year in a 68-53 drubbing. After the game, a fiery Amaker laid into the team for its lackadaisical performance—lighting a spark in a team that finished the year on a 14-2 tear. Undoubtedly Amaker, who has proven time and time again to be the right man for the job, will hope for a better performance this time out.

Back on Track: The Holy Cross press bothered no Harvard player more than junior co-captain Siyani Chambers. A member of the preseason Bob Cousy award watch list, Chambers had arguably his worst game in a Crimson jersey with one point and nine turnovers against the Crusaders. The 6-0 guard will have to play better against the rangy Florida Atlantic backcourt, which features two players in 6-4 junior Jackson Trapp and 6-3 freshman Justin Massey that have the length to corral the smaller Chambers.

Back To The Boards: Through two games, Harvard’s leading rebounder is senior wing Wesley Saunders. Saunders has posted a double-double in each of the team’s first two games, outrebounding the senior trio of Steve Moundou-Missi, Jonah Travis, and Kenyatta Smith by himself. Amaker stressed before the season that he would need Saunders to help out the forwards by rebounding the basketball well, but the frontcourt must step up against a large, imposing Owls front line.