NOTEBOOK: Men's Basketball Rebounds Against Columbia

On a night where tipoff was delayed 15 minutes by Columbia’s Senior Day ceremonies, it was Harvard’s original class of 2015 that shined strongest. In the Crimson’s bounce-back 80-70 victory over Columbia (13-13, 5-7 Ivy), the recruiting class had all but 17 points.

Leading the charge were the usual suspects. Senior wing Wesley Saunders put on a show, scoring 21 points on just eight shots, adding five assists and four rebounds. Co-captain Steve Moundou-Missi had arguably his best game of the season, making all but three shots en route to 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“Steve is a senior and he is player like a senior,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. ‘That’s the biggest compliment I can give to a veteran senior.”

PROVIDING THE POP

It wasn’t only the starters for the Crimson (20-6, 10-2 Ivy). Off the bench, senior bigs Kenyatta Smith and Jonah Travis had 11 points in just 28 combined minutes, giving their customary lift.

The story of the night, however, was the only member of the recruiting class not currently in his final year—sophomore Corbin Miller. The Sandy, Utah native, who took two years off to complete a missions trip, has returned this year as an integral part of the rotation. Arguably the best shooter on the team, he is certainly the most prolific.

On Saturday, with the team’s lead in danger, he did what shooters do best: catch fire.

The first three pushed the lead to 11. A Columbia timeout didn’t solve matters, as Lions coach Kyle Smith stayed in a zone, daring Miller to beat him again.

The sophomore was happy to oblige, nailing another trey. Expression unchanged, he did it again the next possession, causing the TV announcer to exclaim that he was seeing shades of Reggie Miller in the gymnasium.

“We have the utmost confidence in Corbin and we want him to take shots because when he makes them our team is completely different,” Saunders said. “He just had a great game.”

LO AND BEHOLD

On defense, Harvard came out strong. The Lions had just five points in the game’s first seven-and-a-half minutes, with three turnovers before they made their first basket.

Then Columbia junior Maodo Lo got started. The league’s leading scorer torched the Crimson for 22 points in Cambridge two weeks ago, but made the effort look routine in averaging 26.5 a game last weekend—setting the record for made field goals in the Pizzitola Sports Center in a 35-point outburst at Brown.

Lo was in double-digits by halftime and finished with 33 for the game. He made 13-of-21 field goals, routinely cutting through the defense for layups and beating defenders—namely Saunders and junior Agunwa Okolie—on backdoor cuts.

“He was definitely in attack mode tonight but I tried to do as much as possible,” Saunders said. “It was a team effort to guard him and I didn’t want to focus on offense. I knew tonight would be on our offense and stopping Lo. I didn’t do the best of jobs but it was enough to get the win.”

“Like I said before, he’s terrific,” Amaker added. “He’s quick, he’s shifty with the ball, his head is up, he’s low on his drives, and he can shoot the ball well behind the three-point line. He’s hard for anyone.”

SATURDAY NIGHTS

The Crimson’s bounce-back win was the fifth time this season that Harvard has followed up a loss with a win. Under Amaker, who is fond of saying that the league is won on Saturday nights, Harvard has suffered just one pair of back-to-back league losses over the last three seasons—a stunning sweep by Penn and Princeton in March 2013.

“We always talk about turning the page,” Saunders said. “We knew this was a big moment and a big time for our team. We knew that Columbia wasn’t going to feel sorry for us and we would have to come out and battle. It is a testament to our team and our resolve and I think the way we have been all year in bouncing back and not getting too down.”

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