Three Things to Watch: Men's Basketball Moves On in Diamond Head Classic, Faces Auburn

Men’s basketball writer Theresa Hebert picks three things to watch in Wednesday’s contest between Harvard and Auburn in the second round of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii (4:30 EST, ESPNU). The Crimson (4-6), took down Brigham Young in overtime Tuesday to advance, while Auburn (6-3) beat New Mexico in a back-and-forth affair to win its first round game.

CONTAINING CANTY

Coming into the first round, it was BYU senior Kyle Collinsworth who was Harvard’s biggest concern. Turning to Auburn, the Crimson will once again look to senior Agunwa Okolie to bottle up Tiger point guard Kareem Canty, who had 27 points against the Lobos on Tuesday.

Canty is especially threatening from behind the arc, hitting five treys in the first round game. Perimeter defense was a strong suit for Harvard against the Cougars, limiting BYU to 3-of-13 shooting from deep, and it will need to do the same to keep Auburn in check.

MAKING THE EASY SHOTS

Though it hit them when it counted, the Crimson has struggled all year from the free throw line, and it continued Tuesday. Harvard shot just 61 percent from the charity stripe, including 5-of-12 shooting for junior forward Zena Edosomwan.

Edosomwan scored 23 points and snagged 17 rebounds against BYU, both career highs, but consistently clunked shots off the front of the rim from the free throw line. The junior has been Harvard’s most dominant player all season and is currently the only Ivy League player averaging a double-double, but free throws have been his Achilles heel.

Buckets from the charity stripe sealed the victory for Harvard against the Cougars, with Okolie sinking four in the last 17 seconds of the game, but clutch free throw shooting has not always been the case for the Crimson. Against a tough competitor like Auburn, Tommy Amaker’s squad can’t afford to leave easy points behind.

NOT SO EGI-CELLENT

While Edosomwan has taken the brunt of the work in the paint for the Crimson, sophomore forward Chris Egi has been lackluster off the bench when filling in for Edosomwan. Egi failed to score in his 13 minutes on the floor Tuesday, but was flagged for four fouls in that time frame.

Egi, who was a four-star recruit coming into Cambridge, has averaged just 2.2 points per game this season. Especially glaring is his free throw shooting percentage, which makes Edosomwan look good. Egi has hit just 25 percent of his shots from the line compared to Edosomwan’s 46 percent shooting.

With Okolie likely spending his time guarding Canty, if Edosomwan finds himself in foul trouble, the Crimson needs someone it can turn to in the paint.