Men's Basketball Dominates Howard

Overwhelming the visitors with size and athleticism, the Harvard men’s basketball team smothered Howard on its way to a comfortable 76-44 win Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson held the Bison to 31.2 percent shooting from the field, including 0-for-10 from the three-point line.

“You can be a good defensive team in a lot of ways, but you need to be unselfish, you need to be great communicators, and you also need to give great effort,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I thought we had those three components there tonight working well, regardless of who was on the floor, regardless of who had a Harvard uniform on.”

Harvard did not shoot particularly well itself, going 2-for-17 from beyond the arc, but it was able to get into the paint without much resistance, drawing 27 fouls and going to the free throw line 38 times.

The Bison’s pressing defense did not bother the Crimson, which navigated it with ease throughout the game and managed 28 points off of turnovers to Howard’s eight. Amaker credited sophomore point guard Siyani Chambers with taking care of the ball and dribbling through Howard’s pressure.

“I thought our kids did a very good job of being aggressive and being smart with [the ball],” Amaker said. “Siyani is the key to that, especially not having [senior guard] Brandyn Curry.”

Unlike in its first game against Holy Cross, Harvard got off to a quick start, putting together an 11-2 run to start the game that was punctuated by an and-one from senior forward Kyle Casey. Another 11-2 run to end the half, capped by a buzzer-beating tip-in from junior forward Steve Moundou-Missi, put the Crimson up 18 points, 37-19, and effectively sealed the win.

The Crimson coasted for much of the second half, its lead never falling below 20 for the final 10 minutes of the game. In total, 14 players saw action for Harvard.

Perhaps struggling to adapt to this year’s rule changes in college basketball, which include stricter officiating of fouls and post defense in particular, Casey picked up four fouls in his 13 minutes on the floor, though he also led the Crimson in scoring with 14 points. In the season opener, Casey fouled out in 16 minutes.

The benefits and drawbacks of Casey’s aggressive style were on display early in the second half, as he recorded his fourth foul with 15:43 remaining while going up for a block immediately following a tip dunk and an acrobatic and-one on the previous two offensive possessions.

Though Casey’s foul trouble reduced Amaker’s options at forward, Moundou-Missi and junior Jonah Travis stepped up defensively to lock down the Bison. The pair also combined for 18 points and 13 rebounds, playing extended minutes together on the court.

“We talked about those guys giving us what we needed up front would be the difference in our team,” Amaker said. “Obviously, we were saying that with [junior forward] Kenyatta [Smith] in mind, but we still have enough guys up front that have emerged and have taken up those minutes and been able to perform well.”

Howard point guard James Daniel, who entered play on Friday averaging 23.3 points in his first three contests, was held to 14 points on 4-for-14 shooting and failed to connect on any of his four three-point attempts. Junior guard Wesley Saunders took the defensive assignment on Daniel for much of the first half, and the 5’11” Daniel struggled to contend with Saunders’ 6’6” frame and long arms.

The environment inside Lavietes Pavilion was much different than during Tuesday’s home opener against MIT, which was sparsely attended by students. For Friday’s game, the athletic department set aside 800 tickets for students, who filled up half of the seats on the home side of the court and had quite a bit to cheer about as the Crimson jumped out to an early lead it would not relinquish.

After sitting out Tuesday’s contest, co-captain Curry was in uniform tonight but did not enter the game. Amaker said that the team had planned on Curry starting, but an undisclosed injury aggravated during warmups kept him out. Curry was joined on the bench by Smith and sophomore forward Mike Hall, also sidelined by injuries.

“We still have a lot of guys out,” Saunders said. “As everyone gets back and gets used to playing with each other, then we will work things out. We are beginning to get a flow, and the freshmen are getting an idea of where they should be on the court.”

—Staff writer Andrew R. Mooney can be reached at andrew.mooney@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @mooneyar.