Harvard Basketball Blitzes MIT in Season Opener

One down, 29 to go.

In its season opener, the Harvard men’s basketball team downed cross-town rival MIT, 76-49, in front of a sold-out crowd at Lavietes Pavilion on Friday night.

Co-captains Oliver McNally and Keith Wright led the Crimson to victory, notching a combined 18 first-half points to help Harvard grab a commanding 15-point halftime lead.

Despite strong second-half post play from Engineer (0-1) forward Will Tashman, who finished with a team-high 16 points, the Crimson’s lead was never threatened, as Harvard (1-0) cruised to the 27-point win—its largest margin of victory since besting Columbia by 29 on Jan. 29, 2010.

“I was really, really pleased and impressed with the effort our kids brought this evening,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I think our bench and our balance can be two key areas for us this year.”

Four Crimson players—Wright, McNally, junior Kyle Casey, and sophomore Laurent Rivard—scored in double figures. Rivard, who notched four second-half three-pointers, finished with a team-high 16 points.

But it was the Crimson’s defense that truly got the job done, forcing 19 turnovers and giving up just 49 points, its stingiest performance since topping Holy Cross, 72-49, last November.

“We showed that we’re going to be a tough, tough team to score on,” said Wright, who finished with 13 points on six-of-eight shooting.

Despite the lopsided outcome, the Engineers kept pace with the Crimson in the early going. Relying on a pair of early three-pointers, MIT trailed by just one, 13-12, midway through the first half.

But behind nine points from McNally, Harvard went on a 20-4 run over the next 7:59 to take a commanding 33-16 advantage.

Wright ignited the run, answering an Engineer three with a put-back layup.

After checking in for the first time with 9:55 to play, freshman Wes Saunders wasted no time getting in on the action, taking it to the basket off an up-fake and finishing an and-one layup on his first collegiate possession.

“I thought Wes Saunders gave us some really good minutes—how he can put the ball on the floor and make a play for himself and others,” said Amaker of the highly-touted rookie, who finished with two points, three rebounds, and three assists in 10 minutes.

On MIT’s next trip down the court, junior point guard Brandyn Curry came up with a steal and tossed the ball ahead to Wright, who finished the play with a two-handed slam to put the Crimson ahead, 17-12.

The Engineers coughed it up again on their next possession, allowing the Crimson to get back out in transition. This time it was McNally who finished at the rim, giving Harvard the 19-12 lead and forcing MIT coach Larry Anderson to burn a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Tashman answered with a layup, but the Crimson continued to increase its lead.

Rookie Steve Moundou-Missi made his presence felt, swatting a layup attempt from MIT forward Noel Hollingsworth and then finishing an up-and-under layup on the other end to put the Crimson up by nine.

“Steve’s block really ignited us,” Wright said. “That really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

The Crimson’s lead never dipped below 10 for the rest of the game.

In the second half, Rivard put on a shooting clinic, knocking down three treys and a mid-range jumper late in the game to lead Harvard on a personal 11-0 run.

“I almost air-balled my third [three-point attempt], but I just forgot about it, and I kept shooting it, and guys kept finding me,” said Rivard who went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

“He’s the best shooter on the team—one of the best shooters in the nation,” Wright said. “When he’s open, we expect him to shoot. We weren’t really surprised. We were kind of laughing, smiling, enjoying it.”

But the Crimson players weren’t smiling midway through the second half, when the Engineers’ frontcourt duo of Tashman and Hollingsworth started to have its way in the post, combining for 16 second-half points.

“I think we have to do a better job up front in our post defense,” Amaker said. “Give them credit for what they were able to do and how they got the ball in the interior, but we have to be better up front with the people we’re going to face.”

Despite MIT’s success in the post, the Crimson’s lead was never threatened, as Harvard went up by as many as 31 with under six minutes to play.

With the win, the Crimson extended its winning streak at Lavietes Pavilion to 18 games.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.