Now it counts.

The Ivy League season begins tonight for the Harvard men's basketball team against Dartmouth at Briggs Cage at 7:30 p.m.

After six straight losses to open the season, the Crimson will need to drastically improve its play if it hopes to begin this Ivy season with a win.

Harvard will continue to play without shooting guard Matt McClain. A magnetic resonance image (M.R.I.) late last Wednesday night revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

McClain is out for the season and the Crimson backcourt is left with a void in experience.

The rotation of freshmen Jared Leake and James White, along with senior Dave Lapointe, needs to play well in order to keep Harvard's hopes alive.

The Crimson's backcourt weaknesses were vividly exposed in the crushing loss to Babson. When Leake fouled out with 12 minutes left to play, Lapointe had to take over.

Lapointe's inexperience at the helm showed as he turned the ball over seven times. Coach Frank Sullivan was forced to play him the rest of the contest, illustrating the lack of depth in the backcourt.

Harvard must address its turnover problem. A team averaging 25 turnovers per game cannot expect to go far. Although inexperienced guards account for many of these mistakes, better control of the ball is crucial to the Crimson's success.

The other major problem the Crimson must address is the opponent's field goal percentage (read: better defense is a must). So far this season, the opposing teams are shooting 54 percent from the floor.

Harvard may have its chance to improve this against the Big Green. Dartmouth is shooting 47 percent this season.

"We have to take care of our own package," Sullivan said. "But we must focus on any team on the Ivy schedule."

This year's Dartmouth team is drastically different from last year's version. The Big Green only return two starters from last year's 9-17 (4-10 in the Ivy League) squad.

"The past is not much value in this case," Sullivan said. "We need to focus on new people, as if it was a new opponent."

Bouning Back

Dartmouth started off the season slowly, losing its first two games. Two big wins to capture the Dartmouth Ivitational followed. The Big Green convincingly defeated Central Connecticut (78-58) and Campbell (90-74) to win its own tournament.

"Dartmouth likes to spread and open the court," Sullivan said. "We need to work on our man-to-man defense to counter this."

The catalyst of this spread-out offense is guard Gregg Frame. He leads the Big Green in scoring (14 points per game) and rebounding (6.2 per game). Frame is also accurate from the field shooting 50 percent, including 42 percent shooting from three-point land.

The Crimson must take advantage of Dartmouth's lack of height. Starting forward Stan Kowalewski, 6'7", and center Michael Lombard, 6'8", are the only major contributers over 6'6".

Harvard was unable to capitalize on its height advantage against Babson. Big men like Captain Ron Mitchell, Peter Condakes, and Mike Minor need to use their power inside.

Rounding out Dartmouth's starting lineup are guards Alex Gayer and Mike Crotty. They each average seven points per game.