NOTEBOOK: Bulldogs Convert Second Chances

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The first half proved detrimental for Harvard in Yale’s 83-70 win over the Crimson on Friday night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Harvard turnovers and Bulldog offensive rebounds before the intermission were the difference in the victory.

On some possessions, Yale grabbed two and three offensive rebounds before scoring easy layups—thwarting the Crimson’s chances at making a run.

The Bulldogs grabbed 12 of their 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, and out-rebounded Harvard 39-26 for the game. This played a big part in Yale’s scoring 46 points in the paint. The Crimson had just five offensive boards.

Stifling full-court defense was also a thorn in Harvard’s side, as Yale forced the Crimson into 17 first half turnovers while notching 12 steals.

“I thought that was the difference, that we turned the ball over,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “They made some nice plays to go after it, but I didn’t particularly like the carelessness that we were displaying with the basketball.”

The Crimson cleaned it up after the half, though, finishing with just four turnovers in the second half, for a total of 21 in the game. On the other hand, Yale made 12 turnovers after the break, and finished with 20.

More disconcerting was Yale’s ability to convert off Harvard’s carelessness. The Bulldogs scored 27 points off turnovers, as many of their steals led to easy fast break points in transition.

“I think that one thing that we have to continue to focus on is, like Coach said, being a little more careful with the ball,” junior guard Andrew Pusar said. “I think they’re good at getting out and running in the open floor and finding guys in transition; a lot of times I think we got a little slow to match up in transition.”

“We turned it over in the open court,” Amaker said. “It’s one thing to have a turnover when you can get back and try to defend against it, but when you turn it over right out in the middle of the floor and allow them to run down and dunk or shoot layups and energize the fan base…the two points probably counted just a little bit more because of the way that we turned it over and allowed them to streak down the floor and score.”

ALL RILED UP

The Friday night Yale crowd was out in full force—a “Blue-Out,” as dubbed by the Bulldog faithful. Fans were asked to dress in navy blue before entering the arena.

“Certainly with Harvard coming in tonight, I know that added a little bit extra incentive for the enthusiasm with the crowd,” Amaker said. “But certainly they gave a great boost and the players fed off of it, it looked like to me.”

The wild student section was full of rowdy hecklers, chanting at every chance they could to get into the Harvard players heads. They even taunted Amaker.

“It’s college kids screaming,” Amaker said. “I thought there was great energy in the building tonight for their ballclub, and I think that’s the key in any home court environment. Whether you have 20,000 or 2,000, you want to create an energized environment and I certainly thought that was the way it was this evening.”

The official attendance was 2,296.

ELBOWED

A scary moment happened with 7:24 remaining in the second half.

Freshman guard T.J. Carey moved off his man to double team Yale’s Alex Zampier just beyond the three point line. Zampier turned and struck Carey hard with an elbow in the face, knocking Carey to the floor. The point guard held his face and had to be helped off the court. He did not return.

To make it sting even more, Carey was called for the blocking foul on the play for not being in position. On the next possession, Yale’s Nick Holmes hit a three-pointer to extend the Bulldog lead to 15.

—Staff writer Kevin C. Reyes can be reached at kreyes@fas.harvard.edu.