NOTEBOOK: Visit to Dartmouth Proves Unfriendly

HANOVER, N.H.—Despite entering Hanover as the 15-point favorite, the Harvard men’s basketball team struggled to defeat a Dartmouth team predicted to finish in the cellar of the Ivy League.

The Crimson has traditionally run into trouble against its travel partner on the road, falling to the Big Green in four of its previous six trips north of the border.

Last season, Harvard arrived at Dartmouth riding a wave of high expectations following its upset of then-No. 17 Boston College. But despite the Crimson’s momentum, it took a last-second shot from then-freshman Oliver McNally to secure the one-point victory.

Sophomore Keith Wright, who has been a part of the two close victories, is unable to explain his team’s poor performances in New Hampshire.

“I can’t even tell you,” Wright said. “Maybe it’s the rims.”

Harvard’s highly-touted freshman class struggled in its first conference road game, shooting a combined 1-of-10 from deep and turning the ball over six times.

“It was a really intense atmosphere,” freshman Kyle Casey said. “I wasn’t expecting that, to be honest—definitely a learning experience for all of us freshmen.”

The Crimson will have to quickly get over its road woes if it hopes to compete for the Ivy League title. Harvard will embark on its toughest road trip of the season next weekend when the team travels to New York City and Ithaca on back-to-back nights to take on Columbia and Cornell.

CASEY TIME

Casey arrived at Lavietes Pavilion this fall surrounded by high expectations—he was picked by numerous media outlets to haul in Ivy Rookie of the Year honors—and a tremendous amount of hype.

And so far this season, Casey has lived up to that hype.

Two games after scoring a career-high 27 points against Santa Clara, Casey notched 19 points and 10 rebounds Saturday, recording the first double-double of the season by any Harvard player.

“[I was] just doing what I could to help my team win,” Casey said. “I just happened to get the double-double tonight—could have been anybody.”

Casey not only turned in an efficient performance—he shot 6-of-7 from the field—but also demonstrated his offensive versatility.

The Brimmer and May graduate knocked down three outside jumpers, soared through the air to catch and dunk an alley-oop, and secured a number of crucial defensive rebounds.

“I thought Kyle played incredibly well for us,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “Kyle has just been coming on, as we’ve seen for a while now, with how well he’s been able to play and knock down shots and get big defensive rebounds.”

While Casey contributed throughout his 30 minutes of play, his biggest shot came with time expiring in the first half and the Crimson up by a single point.

Co-captain Jeremy Lin controlled the ball at the top of the key as the seconds ticked off the clock and then made a move toward the basket. When the defense shifted its focus to Lin, the playmaker skipped a pass to Casey, who was set up for the three along the left wing.

As the buzzer sounded, Casey’s shot sailed through the net, giving Harvard a four-point lead heading into the break.

Casey showed off his athleticism in the second half, thundering home an alley-oop thrown from sophomore point guard Oliver McNally.

“I didn’t think Oliver was going to throw it,” Casey said. “He just zipped it in there so I jumped. I was pretty pumped afterward.”

FINISHING PROBLEMS

Sporting a 10-point lead with just 1:21 remaining, the Crimson appeared ready to start warming up the bus back to Cambridge.

But two Dartmouth three-pointers and four Harvard missed free throws allowed the Big Green to make the finish too close for comfort for the Crimson.

Dartmouth’s Ronnie Dixon got things started for the home team, knocking down a three-pointer to cut Harvard’s lead to seven. The Crimson’s free-throw woes kept them from putting the game away.

Wright and McNally each went 1-of-2 from the stripe in the final minute, while Lin went 2-of-4 and the Crimson escaped with just the four-point victory.

Harvard’s shooting woes down the stretch underscored a poor shooting performance throughout the night. The Crimson shot 14-of-26 from the stripe—53.8 percent—and 2-of-17 from deep.

“It was a really tough shooting day for us from an offensive standpoint,” Amaker said. “I don’t know what you’d call it.”

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.