No. 21 Harvard Upset at Fordham

BRONX, N.Y.—Faced with a stifiling Fordham zone defense that limited the efficiency of its two All-Ivy big men, an untimely combination of off-nights from its best long-distance shooters, and a raucous, hungry home crowd at Rose Hill Gymnasium, the No. 21/22 Harvard men’s basketball team learned quickly Tuesday night the difficulties of playing on the road with a target on its back.

And in being upset, 60-54, by the Rams (7-6) in a defeat that will likely knock it out of the national rankings for the second time this season, the Crimson (12-2) also learned it has a lot to work on before opening Ivy play versus Dartmouth Saturday.

“We came out real flat,” co-captain Oliver McNally said. “Fordham played really well in their home gym, the crowd got behind them, and they kind of punched us in the mouth to begin with, and we couldn’t get back in it. We made some runs, but I think they had too much momentum, and they played well and some of their guys hit big shots and we didn’t.”

Harvard had trouble throughout the evening against Fordham’s three-quarter court press that evolved into a 2-3 zone. With co-captain Keith Wright and junior Kyle Casey consistently struggling to get position inside, the squad was forced to rely on the three-point shot far more than it would have liked.

“We certainly were ready for [the zone],” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “It didn’t look like it, obviously, but we didn’t see anything different than they were performing on film and what we were preparing for.”

A strong defensive performance of its own kept the Crimson in the game. But it was Fordham that knocked down the big shots late in the contest, while Harvard was just 8-for-30 from behind the arc, including a combined 1-for-13 from its two normally most-prolific three-point shooters, sophomore guard Laurent Rivard and junior wing Christian Webster.

“Our shooting percentages were horrific,” Amaker said. “Certainly they had a lot to do with it, how active they were defensively, how aggressive they were closing out to our shooters. … They played an inspired game, their kids were tremendous throughout the 40 minutes. They deserved to win.”

Despite its struggles, Harvard still had the chance to avoid the upset in the end, even after falling behind by 10 midway through the second half. McNally drilled a game-tying three to make it 50-50 with 3:28 to go, but from there, the Crimson was unable to pull ahead.

Junior guard Brandyn Curry missed a jumper on Harvard’s next possession, while Rivard and McNally failed to knock down threes in the Crimson’s subsequent two times down the floor. Meanwhile, Fordham was able to get to the line twice, and a pair of free throws by Branden Frazier put the Rams up, 53-50, with 1:40 remaining.

On Harvard’s next possession, Wright grabbed an offensive rebound off a Curry miss and was fouled. The senior hit one of two from the line to cut the deficit to two and give him exactly 1,000 points in his Crimson career. But Fordham’s Bryan Smith responded with a three from the left corner that gave the Rams a five-point lead with 37 seconds left.

Curry missed a desperation long ball at the other end, and Smith hit two free throws as the consistently energetic crowd began to sense victory—Fordham’s first home win over a ranked team since 1978—and started serenading the Crimson with chants of “Overrated.”

Curry—who led the squad with 15 points—hit a three-pointer on Harvard’s next possession to cut the Rams lead to four, but it was all too little too late for the Crimson, which—after falling behind late to Florida Atlantic and Saint Joseph’s in recent weeks—did not have another comeback left in it.

“We’ve become a ranked team and it’s a home game, and I think people still look at us—and rightly so—as a winnable game,” Amaker said. “That’s a fair statement, I think. We’re not going to intimidate people when we walk on the floor; we have to execute and perform. I thought their team played and momentum built, confidence was growing, and it didn’t happen for us.”

Harvard led, 27-24, at the half, and Casey opened the second with a put-back layup of a Webster missed three. But Fordham center Chris Gaston—who added to his league-high total of 11 double-doubles with 18 points and 10 rebounds—responded with a three-point play, and Smith drilled a three on the Rams’ next possession to give Fordham its first lead since 8:15 in the first half.

Casey responded with at long ball of his own, but from there, the Crimson began to lose its composure and turned the ball on five of its next ten possessions as the Rams pulled ahead.

A Smith three and eight Gaston points sparked an 11-0 run that put Fordham up, 44-34, with 12:19 to go.

“In zones, you’re going to get open shots, and we didn’t hit them,” McNally said. “We got a lot of shots and we didn’t hit anything. And we threw the ball away and that was pretty much it. …  You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Fordham; they played hard, they’re tough kids, but we’ve got to do a lot better.”

Curry hit a long ball to cut the deficit to seven, and Harvard responded with a run of its own to get within 46-43 on a McNally trey. But Smith responded with another big three, and the Crimson was never able to get closer than the 7-1 run that placed it in a 50-50 tie. The Rams pulled away and ended the game with a celebration fit for a national title, throwing the ball in the air and mobbing each other near midcourt.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Smith, who finished with a game-high 22. “History was made.”

“I’m happy,” Gaston added. “It’s a great win for the program. … I’ve never been a part of something like this.”

Harvard shot just 36 percent from the field and just 50 percent from the free-throw line on the night—a far cry from its 23-point victory over Fordham at Lavietes Pavilion last season, when it was 15-of-27 (including 8-of-14 from Webster and Rivard) from long distance.

“Basketball’s a funny game and a funny sport,” Amaker said. “Now we have to go back to work and see if we can get better this weekend.”