Men’s Basketball Battles But Falls 77-64 to St. John’s

The road struggles continued for Harvard men's basketball on Saturday, with the team delivering an inspired but ultimately losing effort against the St. John’s Red Storm, falling 77-64. The Crimson has now lost six out of its last seven games, including five straight on the road.

Four Harvard players eclipsed double digits in points as junior guard Chandler Piggé delivered an all-around solid performance, contributing 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The Crimson offense struggled from the outset, as Red Storm defenders stayed in front of the ball and used their length to force an 0-for-4 shooting start. St. John’s quickly jumped to a 9-0 run until a brilliant cut by sophomore forward Thomas Batties II delivered the Crimson’s first points of the contest.

After senior guard Evan Nelson netted back-to-back buckets, the Red Storm rattled off another 9-0 streak to go in front 18-6. Then, Nelson stripped the St. John’s point guard from the three-point line, converting the steal into a layup on the other end.

Freshman guard Jaiden Glover made a splash for the Red Storm, dropping back-to-back treys to give St. John’s the largest lead of the first half 24-8. But Piggé also began to get in his bag, driving down the lane for layups and drawing fouls en route to eight points in the period.

Freshman guard Tey Barbour contributed a pair of three pointers, helping the Crimson pull within seven. However, that would be the closest Harvard got, as the dreadful early start was too much to overcome and St. John’s led at halftime, 40-28.

Opening the second half, Nelson got an open look from beyond the arc but could not cash in to cut the lead to single digits. Down the other end, St. John’s offensive rebounding earned it an astounding five shots in one possession, culminating in a tip in for points.

On the ensuing possession, freshman guard Robert Hinton got stripped, leading to a St. John’s layup. Hinton’s offensive woes plagued the young guard again two possessions later, missing badly on a three-pointer, prompting the crowd to chant “airball.”

Hinton’s struggles were representative of the up-and-down campaign that he’s had so far. After scoring 27 points in his first collegiate game — a performance that led Coach Tommy Amaker to call him an “outstanding player” — the rookie has scored fewer points in each subsequent game, while still averaging a solid 15.8 per game on the season.

Harvard found a brief shooting groove in the early part of the second half, receiving three-point contributions from Nelson, Piggé, sophomore guard Xavier Nesbitt, and senior guard Louis Lesmond to cut the lead to 56-45. Hinton brushed off his slump, driving to the teeth of the defense for a massive layup and-one, pulling Harvard within nine.

St. John’s RJ Luis Jr. replied to the Harvard threat with a layup and trey, but Lesmond fired back a three of his own and an elbow jumper from Hinton cut the lead to eight.

St. John’s didn’t budge from that point despite countless Crimson advances, outscoring Harvard 12-7 for the remainder of the period to arrive at the 77-64 final score.

The loss marked Harvard’s fifth consecutive on the road with four being double digit losses. It still has two more games left on the road before it will return to luxury of Lavietes on Dec. 21 against Furman. Despite the box score on Saturday, Harvard showed resilience and will hope to clean up its offensive mistakes as the team’s Ivy schedule begins in early January.

The Crimson will next travel east to Worcester, Mass. for a battle with Holy Cross on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 6:00 PM. Holy Cross leads the all time series 45-31, but Harvard has dominated as of late, winning the five previous matchups. Catch the action online with streaming on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Oscar E. Mercado can be reached at oscar.mercado@thecrimson.com.