The Crimson basketball team plays at Trinity tonight without the services of high-scoring Merle McClung.

McClung has returned to his home in Montevideo, Minn. for a Rhodes Scholarship interview. John Scott will take his place in the lineup tonight.

The Hilltoppers, with as average output of 92.5 points per game this season, have compiled a 3-1 record. They clobbered Middlebury, 105-63, bowed to Williams, 79-71, beat M.I.T., 88-78, and Tuesday night defeated the Coast Guard, 105-78.

Jim Belfiore, a 6 ft., 3 in., guard is the Hilltoppers' leading scorer with a 22.0 average; 6 ft., 3 in., sophomore forward Don Overback is averaging 21.0. Trinity's one salient liability is lack of height: Ed Landes, their 6 ft., 4 in. center, is the tallest member of the squad.

Harvard has the edge tonight, but the absence of McClung will make it close. The Crimson's main worry will be fouls. If either Scott or 6 ft. 4 in. Barry Williams collects five personals. Harvard will in essence be playing with a fourman lineup, since there is no competent big man on the bench.

A victory tonight for Harvard will avenge last season's most frustrating loss. Last December, when the teams mot in the LAB, the Crimson blew a 16 point lead in five minutes and lost the game, 74-72, when Belfiore hit a 25-foot shot in the last second of play.