Brown Starts Hot, Blows Out M. Hoops

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—You can’t make shots you don’t take. These, however, were about the only shots not falling for Brown as it cruised to a 100-83 victory over Harvard at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday night.

The Bears connected on their first nine shot attempts and 15-18 out of the gate to jump out to a 39-21 advantage just 10:31 into the contest.

Jamie Kilburn, Mike Martin and Patrick Powers—honored in senior night ceremonies before the start of the game—keyed the quick start for Brown, scoring 29 of the Bears’ first 35 points.

“We saw an experienced, hard-nosed, senior-driven team on senior night at home, playing for the championship of the Ivy League,” Crimson coach Frank Sullivan said. “Unfortunately, we were in the way.”

Brown’s shooters began to cool off slightly, but the Bears didn’t abandon their torrid pace.

Brown went into intermission with a 17-2 edge in fast-break points, as it quickly pushed the ball up the floor on every possession, taking advantage of the thin Harvard bench.

“The telling statistic is the fast-break points,” Sullivan said. “Early in the game, the speed that [the Bears] generated in transition fueled them and got their confidence up. It was just an uphill battle for us all night.”

The final Brown field goal of the half—a three by Powers with 1:08 remaining—put the finishing touch on a 57-point performance, tied for the most points allowed by the Crimson in any frame all season. The Bears shot 70 percent in the first period—57 percent from three—and managed to reclaim four of its 10 misses off the offensive glass.

“I don’t think we’re strong enough defensively,” Sullivan said. “Our average speed and quickness shows up in terms of making rotations. It’s problematic for us, and it’s why we haven’t guarded Brown and Penn well. We just haven’t been up to the task of guarding those two teams and their motion-style offense.”

Harvard showed some life on offense as well, shooting 50 percent from the field and from three-point range, but could not keep up with the Bears. The Crimson trailed just 16-14 with 15:08 remaining in the first half, before Brown ran off a 19-4 run capped off by a Powers dunk.

The Bears immediately pushed their advantage to 24 out of the intermission, but Harvard kept Brown from extending the lead any further. Two free-throws by Stehle closed the gap to 18, but the Bears responded by outscoring the Crimson over the next 4:09 to take an 89-63 lead—its largest advantage of the contest.

Harvard responded with an 11-2 run to draw within 17 and make the game competitive with just 3:32 remaining. But the two sides would trade buckets for the remainder of the game as Brown finished off its 17-point victory.

Junior guard Kevin Rogus broke out of his slight slump with 28 points, including six three pointers.

“I’ve been struggling the past three games,” Rogus said. “But I was lucky enough to have my first couple [threes] go in, and that gave me enough momentum for the entire game.”

Freshman guard Jim Goffredo scored a career-high 15 points, adding three trifectas of his own.

“I feel like I played with a lot more confidence tonight than I have been lately,” Goffredo said. “It was nice to play well…but at the same time, anytime you lose you can’t be too excited about that.”

Stehle tied a career-high with four blocks and now has 43 on the season—just four behind Bill Ewing ’99 for third-most in a season. Stehle also contributed 22 points and nine boards in the loss.

Sullivan currently has 141 wins as a Harvard coach—just one win behind Floyd Wilson for the most victories all time.

He will get two more chances to tie or break the mark this weekend against Penn and Princeton at Lavietes Pavilion.

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.