Men's Basketball Falls Flat Against No. 6 Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—There are sloppy starts, there are off days, and then there is what happened to the Harvard men’s basketball team (7-2) Sunday in Charlottesville.

The 76-27 loss to the University of Virginia (11-0) was not only the second-worst defeat that the Crimson has suffered during head coach Tommy Amaker’s time at Harvard—it is the worst loss any Ivy League team has suffered this year. In the first half, where the Crimson scored just eight points, Harvard made five percent of its field goals—a figure lower than the school’s 5.6 percent admissions rate.

The stats did not get friendlier from there.

The Crimson’s single field goal of the first half—a spin and layup in the lane by sophomore forward Zena Edosomwan, finished off a rock-bottom offensive effort that tied the NCAA record for fewest field goals in a half. Harvard’s starting five combined to go one-for-32 from the field, and the team had more turnovers (10) than field goals (eight) for the game.

No. 6 Virginia came into the contest allowing just under 48 points a game, but the Crimson did not clear half that until less than three minutes remained.

“I thought they were terrific in every facet,” Amaker said. “We were certainly disappointed in our offensive production and efficiency… They are an outstanding defensive team.”

The start was foreboding, as Cavalier forward Mike Tobey buried more jumpers (two) and had more points (11) in the first three minutes than Harvard scored in the half. Unable to consistently get into the paint, the Crimson’s top two scorers—junior co-captain Siyani Chambers and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Wesley Saunders—combined for just two points in the half, as Harvard’s offense was reduced to a series of off-balance jumpers and contested lay-ins.

After the game, Virginia coach Tony Bennett noted that his team planned to stop Saunders, who came in averaging a shade over 20 points a contest, by staying ground-bound and forcing him to shoot over its length.

“I thought first our size and our length at that guard position … that’s a nice luxury to have going against a big guard like that,” Bennett said. “I thought we did a good job staying down on every pump fake, and every shot he took was going to be contested.”

On the other side of the court, the Crimson’s defensive energy waned as shot after shot rimmed out. Harvard collapsed on every pick-and-roll, leaving each screener free to pop for a jumper and daring the Cavaliers to beat the Crimson from outside. Besides its leading scorer, Virginia had shot just 28 percent from three coming into the contest, so Amaker made a calculated bet by forcing his opponent to shoot jumpers.

However, the Cavaliers turned the plan on its head, taking—and making—open shot after open shot. Virginia made six of its 11 attempts from deep and shot 60 percent for the game, at one point sinking threes on three consecutive possessions in the second half. Guard Malcolm Brogdon had 15 points on just nine attempts, getting the better of Saunders on both ends.

“Malcolm is a terrific all around player, and [with] their ability to clog the lane, there wasn’t many lanes for us to drive and make plays,” Amaker said. “I thought they did a good job hedging ball screens without fouling. They didn’t give us many opportunities, and the ones we did get, we didn’t cash in.”

Although Bennett was quick to point to the fact that Harvard had just come off exams after the game as an excuse for “one of their poorest games,” Amaker refused to accept such explanations for the team’s lack of energy early.

“We certainly knew this would be a monumental struggle coming off of exams, but as I mentioned to our guys, other people take exams [too],” Amaker said.

Instead, the coach pointed to the team’s ability to frame the loss in perspective. He noted that the team had suffered setbacks like this before—most notably a 30-point loss to Arizona to end the 2012 season—and persevered. On an afternoon where, as Bennett noted, “you never expect your team to come out like that,” Harvard’s coach was defiant, pointing out that his team was down, but not out.

“I am confident our kids will bounce back,” Amaker said. “We need to put everything in perspective. We are disappointed but we are not down about life … Maybe this is the time for us to really learn and grow and take advantage of what’s in front of us and not look too much at what’s behind us.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.