Crimson Comeback Bid Crushed By BU

A late Harvard charge sputtered in the game’s final possessions on Tuesday night at Lavietes Pavilion, as Boston University (BU) earned its first victory of the year in a thrilling 78-74 decision.

The Crimson (1-1), down by nine with four minutes to play, had several chances to complete what would have been an inspiring comeback as the game clock ticked under one minute. Down 71-69, with the ball, Harvard milked the shot clock before sophomore point guard Drew Housman found captain Jim Goffredo open at the top of the key. Goffredo’s shot, from a good three feet behind the arc, clanged off the front rim, forcing the Crimson to foul.

BU went 4-of-4 from the line on its next two trips, but answering buckets by Housman and junior forward Brad Unger gave the Crimson one more chance, down 76-73 with possession and 6.5 seconds left.

The Terriers smartly fouled to put Housman on the line. After making the first, the guard’s second shot clanged off the back rim and the rebound barely eluded the grasp of sophomore forward Evan Harris, sealing Harvard’s fate.

The Terriers opened up a 71-62 lead with 4:02 remaining on a three-point play from center Omari Peterkin. That would be BU’s last field goal of the game, but they hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch, showing uncharacteristic poise for a team that started three freshman and two sophomores.

“It’s all about staying calm,” said BU guard Tyler Morris, who hit 3-of-4 from the stripe in the final minute. “You’re hitting [free throws] in practice because you’re calm...If you stay calm, it’s money.”

Morris, a redshirt sophomore who missed all of last season with an ankle injury, displayed a deadly calm in shooting from beyond the arc as well. He hit 3-of-6 from three-point range and 8-of-15 overall, leading the Terriers with 22 points.

Morris had plenty of help from beyond the arc, as BU was 11-of-26 from deep overall, compared to just 4-of-11 for Harvard.

Seven of the Terriers’ hits from three came from the corners, as consistent penetration and baseline drives cleared lanes for passes to open guards camped out on the wings.

“We were just getting open shots—they’ve only got two guys down there [in the 3-2 zone],” Morris said. “They were pressing out high on the guards, so if we get a guy in the corner, it’s just jump shots all day.”

Harvard nearly overcame that rain of jump shots thanks to the play of senior center Brian Cusworth. In one of the best games of his career, Cusworth tied a career high with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, and ignited Harvard coming out of the break.

With the Crimson down 41-35, Cusworth opened the second half with an acrobatic backcourt steal, leading to a Harris basket.

He then hit a pretty fadeaway jumper, came up with a resounding block on the defensive end, added two free throws, and finished the spurt with a bucket after a series of spin moves on the block that tied the score at 45.

After the Crimson had taken a 47-45 lead, though, Cusworth was whistled for his third foul of the game, leading to his exit with 15:16 to play.

The Terriers immediately capitalized, getting consecutive three-pointers from the corner by freshman guard Carlos Strong, and by the time Cusworth re-entered the game with 11:53 to play, BU had a four-point lead that it would not relinquish.

Harvard was also crippled by its 20 turnovers, which lead to 29 BU points. Perhaps the biggest of those giveaways came with 8:47 to play and the Crimson trailing 61-58.

Harris drove into the lane and finished a layup, only to have the basket negated by a questionable offensive foul call. Morris drained a three on the next BU possession, turning a potential one-point deficit into a six-point Terrier cushion.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot with the turnovers,” Harvard coach Frank Sullivan said. “They were able to capitalize on those turnovers in a very dramatic way.”

Besides Morris’ 22, BU received a combined 27 points and seven three-pointers from freshman guards Strong and Corey Lowe.

Harvard travels to Ann Arbor for its next game against Big Ten power Michigan. Tip-off on Friday night is scheduled for 7 p.m.

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.