Dynamic Duo Explodes at Lavietes

The much-hyped frontcourt firepower of Harvard had largely been contained during the team’s 3-0 start this season, but the tandem of junior center Brian Cusworth and captain Matt Stehle showed it was poised to explode yesterday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.

Stehle and Cusworth, both preseason first team All-Ivy selections, entered this year’s slate as the Ivy League’s top two returning scorers and rebounders, averaging over 27 points and 17 rebounds per game combined. Through three games, the duo had recorded 21.7 points and 15 boards per contest.

Against the UC Davis yesterday, each dominated a half in leading the Crimson to a 69-56 win. Cusworth was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in the first half as he paced the Crimson with 15 points. After hitting only two free throws before halftime, Stehle emerged as the leader after the break, hitting six of his seven shots en route to a season-high 20 points. The 6’8 forward hit two three-pointers in a three-minute span midway through the half that helped push the lead from six to 12 and give Harvard control of the game.

“I think we did a really good job today in capitalizing on the size advantage we had,” Cusworth said.

The Aggies started with a three-guard lineup against the Crimson and had no one on the floor taller than 6’8.

Both Stehle and Cusworth had six rebounds, but they also had five turnovers each.

“So much of the offense goes through them, and they’re going to attract so much attention, that turnovers are gonna happen,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said.

One of the two big men led Harvard in scoring in 22 of 30 games last season.

CONNECT FOUR

Harvard is 4-0 for the first time since achieving the feat three times in a row from 1995-98 and can equal its best start in Sullivan’s 15 years at the helm with a win against New Hampshire on Wednesday night.

The Crimson has had different player lead in scoring each time out and boasts five players averaging over nine points per game.

“We definitely have a lot of momentum going right now—we feel very confident in our game all around,” Cusworth said. “We feel like inside and out, we have so many weapons, and we are able to attack the opponent in a variety of ways.”

The wins have not piled up as quickly for the Crimson in recent seasons. The team is just two years removed from a 4-23 showing that many of the current players remember clearly.

“We are trying not to think about [the difference between this season and the 2003-04 season] too much,” Stehle said after the game. “It’s nice that we’re off to a good start, but we don’t want to become complacent by any means...We’ve just got to keep getting better.”

Sullivan credited his seniors for “taking ownership in a difficult week with a lot of games and not much practice time.”

GETTING DEFENSIVE

One key for the Crimson thus far has been limiting opponents’ field goal percentage. Coming into yesterday’s game, its opponents had shot only 36 percent from the field.

Harvard struggled to keep up its suffocating defense in the first half, allowing UC Davis to connect on 13-of-22 opportunities—a 59 percent clip.

“In the locker room at halftime, the sentiment was that the first half was some of the worst basketball we had played [this year],” Cusworth said. “We were really struggling on defense, we did not have the intensity or the energy that we had [earlier this season].”

The defense came alive in the second half, holding the Aggies to 7-of-21 shooting while surrendering no second-chance or fast-break points.

“[When] we got the field goal defense down, I think we were much more comfortable,” Sullivan said.

On the offensive end, Harvard has been shooting the ball well this year—the Crimson has hit on 47 percent of its shot attempts to date.

—Staff writer Gregory B. Michnikov can be reached at michnik@fas.harvard.edu.