Men's Basketball: Cagers fail to snag league title at Harvard

The Tigers (24-6 overall, 11-2 Ivy League) can tie Harvard (23-5, 12-2) atop the league standings with a victory at Penn on Tuesday, forcing a rubber match next weekend for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The site and time of the potential playoff have yet to be determined. (Update, 6 pm Monday: According to a press release from the league office, a playoff would take place at 4 pm Saturday at Yale.)

“It didn’t feel good,” senior forward Kareem Maddox said of watching the Harvard players and fans after the game. “We wanted to go back in time and change some things defensively, to play better. You go through it, and it feels terrible.”

The game was hyped as much as any Ivy League game in recent memory — tickets for the sold-out contest reportedly fetched $300 on the secondary market — and gave the capacity crowd of 2,195 its money’s worth in the first half. Senior guard and co-captain Dan Mavraides opened on a hot streak for the visitors, hitting two three-pointers and driving for two layups to score the first 10 Princeton points.

But the Crimson answered each time, as both offenses converted at spectacular rates early on. During one stretch, the two sides combined to score on 17 consecutive possessions, and the score was already 21-19 just over eight minutes in — putting each team on pace to finish around triple digits.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half, a period that featured an astounding 18 lead changes. The Tigers went on an 8-1 run, capped by a pair of Mavraides free throws, to take a three-point advantage, but Crimson guard Laurent Rivard answered with a triple to equalize.

Four consecutive points from sophomore forward Will Barrett gave the Tigers a two-point lead heading into the final possession of the half, but sophomore forward Ian Hummer fouled Rivard in the act of shooting a three-pointer with one second remaining. The freshman made all three free throws, sending the hosts into the locker room with a one-point advantage.

The sequence was eerily reminiscent of the first meeting at Jadwin Gymnasium, when Rivard fouled junior guard Doug Davis on a three-point attempt with less than a second remaining, allowing Princeton to take momentum into halftime and eventually win the game.

Though a basket by Hummer gave the lead back to Princeton 29 seconds into the second period, the Crimson responded with two points of its own. Two layups by Mavraides in the first three minutes kept the game close, but it seemed only a matter of time before the Crimson pulled away in front of the home crowd.

Indeed, the hosts broke through moments later, scoring 10 points in four possessions to take their largest lead of the game to that point. The run was marked by a spectacular drive and high-flying dunk by forward Kyle Casey, who earned and made a free throw on the play. Casey finished with a team-high 24 points and missed only four of 13 shots from the field.

“I was standing at the three-point line, and we had the floor spaced pretty even, so I pump-faked, took one dribble and tried to tear the rim off,” Casey said. “It was pretty successful.”

A triple from guard Matt Brown extended the Crimson’s lead to nine points, and a drive from guard Brandyn Curry moments later pushed the advantage into double digits for the first time. Curry consistently frustrated Princeton’s defense in the second half, getting into the lane with ease, drawing help defense and finding his teammates for easy baskets. The sophomore finished with 10 assists — as many as Princeton’s team total — and added 10 points for a double-double.

The hosts’ offense stalled in the later stages of the half, committing four turnovers in a scoreless stretch that lasted nearly five minutes while Princeton cut the lead to five points. But a layup and one from Curry extended the lead back to three possessions, and the Tigers never seriously threatened the Crimson again.

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“I’m thrilled for our school, to be in this position that we can finally say that we’re champions of our conference,” Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker said. “So many players and coaches have come through here, trying to get to this point ... I think it means a lot for a lot of people.”

Harvard, which entered the game boasting the nation’s second-best free throw shooting percentage, made 27 of 30 foul shots and shot 60 percent from the floor. Princeton allowed only two offensive rebounds but did not force enough misses to take advantage, conceding 79 points in 63 possessions in its worst defensive performance since taking on then-No. 1 Duke in mid-November.

“We couldn’t get stops,” head coach Sydney Johnson ’97 said. “They were very good offensively tonight, so you tip your hat to them, but we didn’t get stops.”

The Tigers had no difficulty dispatching Dartmouth (5-23, 1-13) the previous day, taking command with a 16-0 first-half run and cruising to a 77-55 victory. Four players scored in double figures, led by Davis’ 14 points, and not a single player notched 30 minutes as Johnson gave his starters some rest.

They travel to Penn (13-14, 7-6) on Tuesday night for a rivalry game at the Palestra. A victory would give the Tigers a share of the conference title and sets up a neutral-site playoff with Harvard for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament, while a loss would likely send them to the National Invitation Tournament.