Another low-light of that Columbia game was the 6:09 stretch of the second half during which the Crimson failed to score a single point. That wasn't the longest dry spell of the year for Harvard, however.
Back in the first half of the game at Penn last month, the Crimson was held scoreless for six minutes and 26 seconds, during which time the Quakers increased their already substantial lead to 32-10.
Two other times this year, Harvard has gone scoreless for more than five minutes: 5:20 in the second half of the New Hampshire game and 5:16 during the first half of the Princeton game.
From our New York bureau chief comes word that Harvard's all-time leading scorer, Joe Carrabino '85, is no longer playing in the Belgian League. Instead, Carrabino is playing with a touring American team made up of former college and pro stars.
This week's trivia question comes from Harvard Sports Information Director Ed Markey, who asks, "What do the members of the Harvard basketball team and our soldiers in Viet Nam have in common?" Answer below.
Word from the Midwest has it that Harvard's all-time, all-division free throw record of 82.2 percent set two years ago is in serious danger. It seems that the Michigan State Spartans are sinking free throws at an 81.8 percent clip, dangerously close to probably the only national collegiate mark ever held by a Harvard basketball team.
But the situation is looking better for the Crimson--if I remember correctly, the Spartans were hitting at better than an 83 percent clip earlier in the season.
Here's one lifetime Michigan Wolverine fan hoping that 'State doesn't achieve fame of any sort on the basketball court this season.
Meanwhile, Harvard is connecting at a 75.8 percent clip from the charity stripe this year and was eighth in the nation in team percentage in the latest NCAA statistical report.
Leading the cagers are six players shooting over 80 percent, including guards Pat Smith at .875 and Webster at .857.
Two frontcourt men, Phillips and Mohler, are leading the squad with 10 perfect free throw shooting nights (defined as games in which the player takes at least one free throw and doesn't miss any). Mohler (twice) and Dodson share the honor for the most prolific perfect night of the season with 6-for-6 performances.
From the Neil Phillips File, the freshman forward from Germantown, Md., continues to lead the Crimson in a host of catagories including scoring (11.9 points per game) and rebounding (5.8 per game).
Phillips has also led the team in scoring 10 times, tops on the squad, and twice as many times as the next best cager (Webster, with five scoring leaderships). The freshman forward also has the most number of rebound leaderships (nine), and is the only cager not to play regularly at guard to lead the squad in assists (which he has done four times, most recently in the Columbia game).
Then there's the recent field goal shooting ups and downs of freshman guard Gielen. The Bowie, Md. native shot 4-for-6 against Brandeis right after exam period and 3-for-4 at Duke, only to fall to 1-for-7 in the following game against Yale.
Gielen got back on track against Brown (5-for-6) and Dartmouth (5-for-7), but then slipped to even against Cornell (3-for-6) and even worse against the Lions Saturday (2-for-8).
In games that the freshman is hot, he's the team's best outside shooter and a very important asset to a squad which has struggled offensively this season. But Gielen has yet to maintain the hot hand for more than a couple of games so far.
Quiz answer: The average age is/was 19. Harvard Men's Basketball 5-15 Overall, 1-7 Ivy
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