Weekend Challenge Ahead

One thousand fifty minutes played, 1870 points scored, and 873 rebounds grabbed. After 26 games, the final outcome of a remarkable season will rest in the Harvard men’s basketball team’s own hands.

After overcoming an 11-point halftime deficit to snatch a thrilling comeback victory against Brown and enduring a heartbreaking one-point loss at Yale on last weekend’s two-game road trip, the team returns to Lavietes Pavilion this weekend, where it is 12-0 this season.

There the Crimson (21-5, 10-2 Ivy) will take on conference foes Penn (12-13, 6-5) and Princeton (22-5, 10-1) Friday and Saturday night, respectively.

Dropped to second place in the Ivy standings after being snakebitten at Yale, the Crimson will guarantee itself at least a share of the Ivy League title if it wins both games.

“As a team, I believe we got ourselves ready,” said junior co-captain Oliver McNally, who hit the game-winning shot with 11 seconds remaining the last time the team played the Quakers. “We need to keep charging forward. The season is coming to a close, and we need to be at our best this weekend.”

Penn is coming off a loss against Cornell, but it will be visiting with a chip on its shoulders, after losing to the Crimson by only one point in a double-overtime thriller on Feb 5. The Quakers are led by starting point guard Zack Rosen, who ranks third among all Ivy League players in scoring—averaging 14.8 points a game—and second in assists—averaging 5.5 assists a game.

Rosen will pose a tough matchup for Harvard sophomore guard Brandyn Curry, who has been very effective as the Crimson’s starting point guard this season.

“[Rosen] has really good handles, and he’s also very good at getting to the free throw line,” Curry said, “So I’ll have to stay out of foul trouble and try to make things difficult for him.”

The Crimson will also have to defend against Quakers’ senior forward Jack Eggleston, who is one of the best in-and-out forwards in the league, averaging 8.2 rebounds a game while shooting 43.8 percent from beyond the arc.

“Eggleston is one of the best bigs in the league,” McNally said. “But I think the most important thing is containing Rosen, and not letting him get into the lane and make plays for others.”

Provided that the team can hold its own against Penn, Saturday night’s regular season finale against Princeton will be a tougher challenge.

“Princeton moves the ball very well,” Curry said. “We’ll have to defend the whole 35 seconds against them—not give them any easy buckets on backdoors.”

According to Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, the key to playing the Tigers is defending the post.

“We’re going to have to do a better job of defending them in the post,” Amaker said. “[Kareem] Maddox and [Ian] Hummer did a great job against us [last time]. They got to where they wanted to get to and were very efficient around the goal.”

Maddox and Hummer combined for 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting last time the two teams met.

In addition to its two inside threats, Princeton also has two guards, senior Dan Mavraides and junior Douglas Davis, who average double-digits in scoring. Given such a balanced Tigers offense, Curry said it’s important that the Crimson dictate the tempo of the game.

“We want to push the ball,” Curry said. “Princeton likes to run it slow, but we definitely want to keep the tempo fast-paced.”

The first time Harvard met Penn and Princeton this season, the team was able to jump out to first-half leads. But it had difficulties closing out both games in the second half. With an NCAA tournament birth at stake, it will be important for the Crimson to shake off last Saturday’s loss early, and keep its feet on the pedal all weekend.

“We have full confidence,” Curry said. “We’re ready to take care of business at home.”