Twenty-One Points, Five Points . . . Who's Counting?

Funny line of the week goes to Harvard men's basketball Coach Frank McLaughlin, who last Thursday said the difference in Ivy League games rarely exceeds five points.

"The difference in the league is about five points per game," the Crimson coach said.

So the next night Cornell pasted Harvard, 64-43.

Twenty-one points, five points... who's counting?

* * *

And then there were three.

As in three weeks to go, three teams in contention and three crucial games still on the schedule.

That's how the race for the 1985 Ivy League men's basketball title has shaped up.

Like virtually all had predicted at season's start. Penn. Harvard and Cornell are the front-runners in the quest for the coveted Ancient Eight crown.

Only half a game separates the first-place Quakers (6-1) from the Crimson and Big Red (both 6-2).

That means first place will be on the line when Penn and Harvard square off Friday night in Briggs Athletic Center in the first of the three pivotal showdowns.

The second crucial contest will take place the following weekend, when Cornell visits Cambridge for a meeting with the Harvard club it leveled last weekend.

Penn will then travel to Ithaca. N.Y. on the final weekend of the regular season for a confrontation with Cornell that's sure to go a long way in determining the Ivy titlist.

Just counting those three games. Harvard (14-4 overall) has the decided edge by playing its two crucial games at home. Cornell (12-8 overall) will play one of its two showdowns at home, while Penn (9-10 overall) will play both of its games with Harvard and Cornell on the road.

Looking at total games remaining. Harvard again has the edge. Overall, the Crimson will play four of its final six games at home, while Penn will be at home for just three of its remaining seven conests.

In this category, Cornell will have the toughest time, playing only two of its last six showdowns at home.

* * *

A few interesting notes before Penn and Princeton invade Briggs this weekend. Harvard swept the Quakers and Tigers on the road for the first time ever earlier this season.

Therefore, if Harvard takes a sweep this weekend, it would mark the first time in history that Harvard went 4-0 in the same season against the Ivies' most feared teams.

Furthermore, a victory over Penn would make it Harvard's first sweep of the Quakers in the same season since 1941-42. The only other time Harvard swept Penn in The same season was the year before, 1940-41.

Still more: A victory over Princeton would make it the first time in history Harvard has taken four straight from the Tigers and would mark the first time the Crimson has swept the Tigers in consecutive years.

* * *

With all this talk of sweeping. Harvard's fans ought to bring some brooms to this weekend's games.

* * *

The winner of Friday's Harvard-Penn confrontation--slated for 7:30 p.m.--will become the favorite to wrest the Ivy crown.

But Quaker fans won't get much of a chance to see the game since Harvard has refused to allocate any visitors tickets.

Speaking of tickets--which are reportedly going quickly--students can pick them up tree at the Harvard Athletic Ticket Office.

* * *

Iromeally this could be the biggest weekend in McLaughlin's eight year's here for several reasons.

A sweep of Penn-Princeton would not one vault McLaughlin's charges into the lead in the race for the Ancient Eight crown, but also would vault McLaughlin into the 100 Club.

With 98 career victories, the Crimson coach needs just two more to his the milestone. Whenever it happens, the former Notre Dame assistant will become only the third coach in Harvard history to record 100 wins.

Only Floyd Wilson (142) and Ed Wacher (121) have more coaching victories at Harvard.

* * *

If it's not a historic weekend for McLaughlin, it's sure to be a historic one for Crimson senior Co-Captain Joe Carrabino.

The Encino, Calif. native needs just 40 points to become Harvard's all-time leading scorer. Barring a miracle Friday night. Carrabino ought to break Donald Fleming's mark of 1797 career points Saturday against Princeton.

* * *

From this week's J.C. file comes this amazing stat: the 6-ft., 9-in. forward has made 56 consecutive free throws in the last five minutes of Harvard's games.

Carrabino hasn't missed a free throw in the final five minutes of a game in more than a year. The last time missed one was Feb. 3. 1984 at Columbia.

Teams are starting to catch on, though, having sent last year's Ivy League Player of the Year to the line just 15 times in the final five minutes of the last 14 games.

Here's more: Carrabino has taken 497 free throws in his illustrious career, and has never missed three in a row. In fact, he's missed two in a row just twice, with both of those sub-par efforts coming this year.

And finally, the forward-turned-center had a streak of 11 consecutive free throws broken Saturday night at Columbia. Don't fear, though, he's got a new one of seven straight going.

Kudos are in store for Carrabino, who this week was named to the Academic All-America District 1 team. The honor now makes him eligible for the National Academic All-America team.

* * *

Lost in last Friday's Catastrophe at Cornell was the fact that Crimson senior Co-Captain Bob Ferry moved into third place on the all-time Harvard scoring list.

The Bowie, Md. native now has 1273 career points, which puts him behind only Fleming and Carrabino.

There's absolutely no way Ferry can catch either Fleming or Carrabino, but this weekend he should become only the third player in Crimson history to score 1300 points.

No wonder the Harvard Squad is enjoying its Renaissance, what with two of the Crimson's top three all-time scorers playing on the same team.

Certainly, Carrabino and Ferry make the Class of 1985 the highest scoring class in Harvard hoop history. No two players in the top 10 on the all-time scoring list ever graduated in the same class before.

* * *

After a red-hot start, Harvard's Big Three--Carrabino. Ferry and Duncan--have cooled off considerably.

In the last six games, Carrabino's percentage from the floor has dropped from .619 to .565. That's still a career high, but his 12 out of 26 performance last weekend was his worst of the year.

Interestingly, his 17 points at Columbia Saturday night would have been a season low if he hadn't just recorded a season low of 14 the night before at Cornell.

Ferry, still the hottest player for the season, is in the worst slump of anyone right now.

In the last six games, his percentage has dipped from .629 to .584. That's still a career high, but his 7 for 18 showing last weekend was, like Carrabino's his worst of the year.

In fact, in just two games, Ferry's percentage from the floor dropped from .605 to .584.

Finally, in the last six games, Dunean's percentage from the floor has dropped from .608 to .584

Nevertheless, the Big Three are still accounting for 75.7 percent of Harvard's points, and they're also accounting for 70 percent of Harvard's rebounds.

* * *

Carrabino's career free throw percentage of 85.6 percent ranked him fifth nationally among Division I seniors coming into this season. Considering that he's shooting 89.7 from the line this year, he could conceivably finish in the top three.

Ferry, meanwhile, had a career free throw percentage of 85.7 percent entering this season. That placed him fourth nationally among Division I seniors. Ferr however, is shooting just 84 percent from the line this year, so he could conceivably drop from the top five by the end of his career.

* * *

What you've all been waiting for: Harvard was ranked first in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA statistics, hitting at an 80.7 percent clip.

Harvard's percentage 81.1 percent, which should be good enough to keep it in the number one slot for the next week.

The 81.1 number comes despite a five-for-10 performance last weekend at Cornell that was Harvard's worst showing from the charity stripe since December 30, 1978, when the Crimson shot 42.9 percent from the line against Fordham in the Rainbow Classic.

* * *

By the way, Harvard lost to as Arizona State squad in that 1978 Rainbow Classic that included five players currently in the NBA.

* * *

Junior Pat Smith has played 95 straight minutes without a turnover.

What's more, the point guard has committed just four giveaways in the last 234 minutes. That's an average of one turnover every 58.5 minutes.

* * *

The Basketball Notebook Appears (Almost) Every Wednesday in The Harvard Crimson