Sixteen hundred fans, the largest crowd to witness a Harvard basketball game in nearly two decades, will jam the IAB tonight to see the man who has become not a legend, but a virtual deity in his own time: Bill Bradley.

The majority of the spectators are coming primarily to watch the Princeton star perform his usual basketball wizardry. They won't be disappointed--Bradley is probably the finest college basketball player in the country--but his exploits just might be overshadowed by an upset-minded Crimson quintet.

Defense No Object

The big problem facing Harvard is, obviously, Bradley. Last week the Crimson was totally unable to contain Yale star Rick Kaminsky, and Kaminsky is a more mortal. Everything has been used against Princeton's amazing Number 42: a straight zone, a straight man-to-man, double-teaming, triple-teaming, a box and one, a box and two. But Bradley could murder you with an anaconda wrapped around his neck.

The third leading scorer in the country, Bradley is averaging 32 points per game. He has grabbed 226 rebounds this season. His shooting average is 49.7 per cent. His free-throw percentage is 86.9, and he has sunk 57 foul shots in a row, something no pro has ever done. Convinced?

In essence, Harvard's strategy will be to concede Bradley his 32 points, forcing him to shoot from the outside, and concentrate on stopping the other four Tiger starters. For the specifics of coach Floyd Wilson's strategy, tune in tonight at 8 p.m.

Princeton has compiled an 11-6 season record, defeating such national cage powerhouses as Texas, Army, and Wisconsin. The Bengals have won four of five Ivy contests; somehow, they lost to Columbia, whom the Crimson decimated by 17 points last month. In fact, the Lions discovered the real secret of beating Princeton: catch them on a night when their shooting is execrable, their ball-handling is shoddy, and their rebounding isn't too hot.

The Agency

There are other players on the Princeton team besides Bradley. Complementing the Crystal City, Mo., miracle worker will be a quartet with the ad-agency ring of Hasrlow, Howard, Rodenbach and Roth.

Don Rodenbach, a 6-2 guard, is the second leading Tiger scorer with a sizzling 9.2 average; 6-2 forward Bob Hasrlow is averaging 9.0. The squad generally assumes the posture of a shrinking violet, but last week against Penn, when Bradley was held to four field goals, their well- balanced performance gave Princeton a 65-63 win.

Wilson will probably start Rob Itman Barry Williams, Merle McClung, Keith Sadlacok and Lee Scully. The Crimson's tallest advantage is height; Bradley, at 6-5, is Princeton's tallest starter, and Harvard's brilliant front line has been tough under the boards all season.

The real key to the game, however, may he in the performance of Scully and Sadlacok When Sadlacok in "on," he is the best outside-shooting guard Harvard has had in years. But when he's off, he's awful, and last weekend against Brown and Yale the 6-1 sophomore was shooting about as accurately as Marshal Dillon's adversaries in Dedge City gunfights.

Princeton currently shares the Ivy lead with Cornell, but if the unexpected happens tonight, the Crimson will probably be elevated late a tie for first place. If Wilson's defensive plan works, and the entire Crimson five is clicking, 1600 people will get to see Harvard's biggest basketball victory in a decade