Harvard Overwhelms UNH to Stay Perfect

Just 11 days into the season, the Harvard men’s basketball team has already found itself among some pretty elite company.

The Crimson became the third Harvard team in the last 47 years to win its first five games of the season, defeating New Hampshire 71-50 at Lavietes Pavilion last night.

“It has been a great start,” junior center Brian Cusworth said. “We’ve definitely got a lot of momentum right now. It’s a testament to how hard everyone worked in the offseason.”

After Wildcats forward Mike Christensen converted a layup with 4:06 left to pull his squad within 12, the Crimson closed out the contest on a 9-0 run, including a thunderous two-handed dunk from Cusworth with just under a minute remaining.

Junior guard Jim Goffredo hit six free throws in the final 2:17, part of a 12-for-12 performance from the stripe on the night, as he joined Cusworth as the game’s high scorer with 15 points. Four of Goffredo’s conversions from the line came as a result of two technical fouls awarded to New Hampshire forward Blagoj Janev and coach Bill Herrion with 33 seconds to go.

“The foul trouble put a dent into their team,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “They were mixing and matching with lineups and that was tough for them.”

Janev was the Wildcats’ leading scorer entering the contest, but foul trouble kept him sidelined for a significant portion of the game. He fouled out on the technical in the waning moments and went to the bench with just two points and four rebounds on the evening.

The Crimson led just 28-23 with 3:18 remaining in the opening half, but scored the final seven points before the intermission and added 11 of the first 13 in the second to forge a 46-25 advantage. Harvard hit nine free throws during the run—three more than the Wildcats attempted on the game.

“That was our plan coming in,” said Cusworth of the free throw disparity. “We planned to attack the basket.”

“We did a great job guarding without fouling,” Sullivan said.

New Hampshire responded with a 13-4 spurt, capped off by a Brandon Odom three pointer, to claw back within 12, but the Wildcats would get no closer for the duration of the contest.

Senior guard Michael Beal tied a career high with five field goals and tied a season high in points with 12—the fourth-straight game in which he has reached double digits in points. He finished just one rebound short of his second double-double of the season.

“He had back-to-back great lines in the boxscore,” Sullivan said. “The thing about Mike is that he’s been able to give up the point guard spot, and now he’s the player he was in high school—putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket.”

Captain Matt Stehle came up one point shy of his first double-double of the season. He did post a game-high four assists in the victory.

Rookie point guard Drew Housman added nine points, completing a 60-point performance by the five starters—the same number the group was averaging heading into the contest. Housman has contributed 11 points per game thus far this season.

“He has come in and played with the confidence and composure of a veteran player,” Cusworth said. “He’s done an amazing job for a freshman.”

The Crimson dominated on the glass, posting 42 rebounds to New Hampshire’s 27, as Beal and Cusworth pulled down nine boards a piece, while Stehle led all players with 12. Harvard also cut down on the second chance opportunities, limiting the Wildcats to just nine offensive boards on the game.

“We wanted to do a better job on defensive rebounding,” Sullivan said. “We shoot for 70 percent [of the defensive boards] and we got over 75 percent tonight.”

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