NOTEBOOK: Seniors, Rookies Join Forces in Win

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Fresh off a heartbreaking loss to Brown the night before, Harvard had no urge to be merciful in its season finale, upstaging Yale’s senior night with an impressive showing from both the Crimson’s veterans and its rising freshmen.

Senior guard Drew Housman had a game-high 38 minutes, consistently getting to the hoop and finding the open man for easy buckets. While Housman was controlling the perimeter, forward Evan Harris made his presence felt inside, playing a major role in neutralizing the Bulldog size advantage in the paint.

The seniors end their Crimson careers with the full knowledge that the program is in good hands, as freshmen Oliver McNally and Keith Wright were major factors in sending off their graduating teammates with a win.

Thanks to captain Andrew Pusar’s injury early in the game, guard McNally was called upon early and often, and he stepped up to the challenge. McNally’s shooting was especially crucial in the opening frame—his ten first-half points leading both squads—and he was rewarded with the second-half start. McNally’s 33 minutes of action was the most he has seen all season.

Harris’s counterpart, the 240-lb forward Wright, also came up big, going 5-of-7 from the field while in a constant battle against Yale’s relentless forwards. Wright displayed a remarkable array of moves in the post, knocking in tough hooks, layups, and jumpers.

“He’s going to be a great player,” Harris said. “He’s doing this as a freshmen, and these are some of the best big men I’ve played against in my four years here…hopefully he can keep doing his thing.”

POWER IN THE POST

One month ago, the Crimson took on the Bulldogs at Lavietes Pavilion, falling 87-66. The hosts were thoroughly outmatched, particularly in the frontcourt. Yale had 40 points in the paint to the home team’s 22.

This time around, the tables were turned, as it was Harvard with the 40-to-28 advantage in points in the paint. Harris and Wright did consistent damage, scoring inside and grabbing rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end.

“We made a conscious decision this time around—we weren’t going to let them punk us,” Housman said.

While Yale forwards Ross Morin and Travis Pinick combined for 35 points on 14-of-23 field goal shooting, the rest of the team shot 8-for-25. The Crimson did a stellar job of contesting close shots and denying easy opportunities, as the Bulldogs had a much tougher time finishing than they did in the previous matchup.

“We put it on ourselves not to get killed,” Harris said. “We all had to step up tonight.”

Harvard displayed a team effort in clogging the paint and poking away balls, causing Morin and Pinick to turn the ball over five times each.

MENTAL TURNAROUND

Although the Crimson has not been the best at closing out games this season, it displayed an all-around mental toughness that helped cleanly put away its archrival, which seemed to fall apart in crunch time.

The Bulldogs had 16 turnovers—many of which came late in the game on mishandlings and miscommunications—and thus were never able to find any sort of momentum. Spurred by junior Jeremy Lin pushing the ball on the fast break, Harvard capitalized repeatedly, scoring 16 points off turnovers.

The Crimson kept its own mistakes to a minimum, turning the ball over a mere ten times. Housman and McNally rendered Yale’s full court press mostly ineffective, evading the pressure and setting up the half court offense.

“We were disciplined, efficient…just doing things you’re supposed to do to finish it out,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.

Additionally important were second-half free throws, as Yale reached the foul line 15 times but only converted nine of those attempts. The Crimson only shot 62.5 percent for the game but was 5-of-7 at the stripe in the second frame.

Overall, Harvard played strong for a full forty minutes, experiencing no second-half letdown—another improvement on the previous contest with Yale. Harvard shot 30 percent from the field in the second half in February, but this time the Crimson went a blazing 58 percent to close out the game.

“I thought we started, sustained, and finished tonight, and that was really nice to see,” Amaker said.

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.