Bring On Virginia

While talk of scheduling Virginia, also three-point losers to Duke this year, is probably premature, Harvard basketball may finally be on the road to success.

The Blue Devils brought out the best in the Crimson, who gave last night's contest everything they had.

"We can't play any better," said Harvard Coach Frank McLaughlin. While all over the rest of the country this morning people will notice the 89-86 score and flippantly comment, "Duke must have really stunk out the joint. They only won by three," the reality is that the Blue Devils, the 25th best team in the country, played well and were forced to play well for all 40 minutes by the tenacious Crimson.

"We weren't flat," Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after his team escaped. "They played as hard as any team we've played. They showed a lot of poise."

Leading the poise patrol were a pair of Crimson juniors. Joe Carrabino shot the lights out (14 for 17) from the field. Up front, he battled the big Duke front court into submission and with the help of a tough two-three zone, eliminated the Duke inside game.

In the backcourt, Bob Ferry controlled the pace of the Crimson attack. At the charity stripe, the nation's leading free-throw shooter sank eight of his attempts, hitting the rim once. Ferry also prevented All-American Johnny Dawkins from scoring once the Crimson went man-to-man towards the end.

Dawkins took full advantage of the tightly packed Crimson Zone in the frist half, picking up 23 points on 11-for-14 shooting. The Washington, D.C. native found a comfortable spot 20 feet from the hoop and just poured them in. Dawkins has been struggling with his shooting and was happy to get back on track.

"I got my confidence going early," he said. "The last couple of games I have been opening up by missing the first four or five."

Not last night, Perhaps warmed by the sight of Ferry and Pat Smith, old D.C. high school rivals, Dawkins probably couldn't have missed one if he tried. The sophomore finished the night with 33 points, his second best ever, but more important, won the game for the Blue Devils by neutralizing the Harvard zone.

While Dawkins and his teammates move on to deal with bigger and better things, namely Maryland and North Carolina, the Crimson returns to the Battle of the Ivy League 1983-84, the title that nobody wanted.

Harvard faces Brown and Yale on Friday and Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. at Briggs in a pair of crucial league contests. If the Crimson plays a pair of games even vaguely resembling last night's effort and gets the same kind of crowd support, then Carrabino. Ferry and Co. will win a couple of big ones at home.

Asked about the record, but not sellout, crowd of 2850 last night. McLaughlin said, Obviously this is not a basketball school."

Just wait, Frank.