There are nights when everything goes right.
And then there are nights when everything goes wrong.
Last night was one of those nights for the Harvard men's basketball team.
In an ugly outing that had few brights spots, the Crimson suffered a 93-74 drubbing at the hands of the University of New Hampshire in front of 300 fans in its home opener at Briggs Cage.
The Wildcats (1-1), who posted a pitiful 4-25 record last year, put pressure on Harvard from the start and kept the Crimson (0-2) from ever getting into its rhythm.
On offense, on defense, and in transition.
The UNH press and poor Harvard shot selection kept the Crimson to a 36 percent shooting rate from the field.
"[Our press was] really relentless tonight," UNH Coach Gerry Friel said.
Meanwhile, the Crimson's defense let the Wildcats convert more than 50 percent of its field goal attempts. UNH also outshot the Crimson from the charity stripe, 71-58 percent.
To make matters worse, the Crimson committed 34 personal fouls, 17 in each half. Three cagers--Co-Captain Mike Gielen, senior forward Tedd Evers and freshman center Eric Carter--fouled out of the game.
"There were very few spots in which we can say we played very well," Harvard Coach Pete Roby said. "We had breakdowns offensively and defensively and in our mental game."
Friel, the losingest coach in Division I basketball--who has come under fire from the New Hampshire administration for not winning enough--was overjoyed by the outcome.
"I don't remember scoring 90 points in a long time," Friel said. "This particular win means as much as any we've had, given the conditions the kids were playing under. It was very important for us to get that first win."
After being down by seven points at the half, 39-32, the Crimson held the Wildcats' lead to under 10 points for much of the second half. Harvard narrowed UNH's lead to 63-57 with 9:18 remaining, but Friel, sensing a
Wildcats, 93-74 at Briggs Cage New Hampshire 39-54--93 Harvard 32-42--74
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