NOTEBOOK: Men's Basketball Falters in Second Half Against Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—Historically, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker has scheduled his team to play several Massachusetts rivals in the non-conference portion of the season. Amaker has tried to use these games to show that the Crimson is not a team to be taken lightly by non-Ivy foes.

But after the loss in-state opponent Boston College, the Harvard men’s basketball team dropped its third consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, 69-56. The loss comes just days after falling to UMass on Tuesday.

While Harvard (1-3) led for the first time going into the half since its win against MIT, the Eagles (3-0) came out firing in the second half to give them the double-digit win.

MAKING THE EASY BASKETS

After limiting the Eagles to just 16 points in the first half, the Crimson had a chance to extend the lead. But despite a strong defensive performance in the first 20 minutes, the team failed to convert on numerous easy buckets and missed countless opportunities from the free throw line.

“The difference there, for us to have a chance in a game like this, [is] we have to be much better in areas like foul shooting,” Amaker said. “I was disappointed that we didn’t put forth better effort there on the little things that are necessary to win a game like this.”

The Crimson shot just 39 percent from the free throw line, sinking nine shots on 23 attempts. Harvard’s post players—namely junior Zena Edosomwan and sophomore Chris Egi—succeeded in drawing fouls early on, but could not convert consistently from the charity stripe.

BC forward Idy Diallo and center Dennis Clifford both fell into foul trouble early, sending Edosomwan and Egi to the line often. The duo, however, shot just five-for-14 from that spot for the game.

While Edosomwan finished the afternoon with 20 points and nine rebounds, his 44 percent foul shooting for the day was close to his 50 percent mark for the season. Edosomwan has also gone to the line more than any of his teammates this season, dragging Harvard’s percentage down.

But free throws weren’t the only easy points the Crimson struggled with. With 12 minutes left in the first half, freshman guard Tommy McCarthy stole the ball near half court and had a clear lane to the basket, but missed the wide-open layup.

Several minutes later, it was a different player, but the same result. Senior forward Agunwa Okolie again stole the ball outside the perimeter and headed down the other end of the court, only to lead to a missed open jumper by Egi.

“As coach [Amaker] always says, free throws and layups are big things, and we need to do a better job converting those,” Edosomwan said.

FLY LIKE AN EAGLE

Like the Crimson, the Eagles struggled on offense in the first half. Unlike Harvard, however, BC came out hot in a second frame that saw the Eagles shoot 50 percent from the field and score 53 points.

The second half defensive breakdown came even as Okolie successfully limited BC star Eli Carter, holding the guard to 3-for-14 shooting from the floor. Through the season’s first four games, Okolie has been tasked with guarding the top offensive power from the opposing squad.

“[Okolie’s] calling card for us is his defense,” Amaker said. “He has guarded the best perimeter player on the opposing team for every game, and that’s a job he relishes and takes on, and [he] does it very well.”

But other Eagles stepped up in Carter’s offensive absence to take the reins. Freshman guard Matt Milon led BC scorers with 16 points off the bench, 12 of which came from behind the arc.

Milon’s prowess on the perimeter along with Clifford’s seven-foot presence in the paint allowed the Eagles to have a balanced attack, something Harvard was lacking for much of the game.

—Staff writer Theresa C. Hebert can be reached at theresa.hebert@thecrimson.com.