Thanks for the, uh, encouragement, Bill.
Happy Days are Here Again: Winning really does wonders for a team's psyche.
Starting senior center Arturo Llopis was tight-lipped before the BC game, waving off any questions about the contest, but his mood improved yesterday after Harvard's first victory.
Llopis, who battled the NCAA last season in an eligibility dispute, scored five points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked two shots on Monday against Babson.
Playing so close to the basket, Llopis has maintained the highest field goal percentage on the team (72 percent) while averaging 5.7 boards per game.
Bench Help from the Frosh: Harvard's depth this season has depended heavily on two freshman, Mike Gilmore and Darren Rankin.
Gilmore has been the first guard off the bench, while Rankin is the first frontcourt reserve.
Both are learning the college game on the job.
"Both Mike and I have played a lot of summer league basketball against college and top high school players, so we've pretty much seen this kind of talent before," Rankin said.
"But the big difference is the physical play. There's a lot more contact, and being freshmen, we don't get many calls."
Don't be too surprised if Rankin takes the roughness in stride. His big brother Kevin, who plays for Northwestern, was the 1990 Big Ten Rookie of the Year.
Stubborn Stags Stand in Crimson's Path: Tonight's game against Fairfield at Briggs Center should provide a good test for the Harvard team, according to Rullman.
"Fairfield's a tough team, and they haven't lost yet, so we'll have to see how we do," the reticent captain said.
The Stags are 3-0.
The keys to defeating Fairfield will be strong rebounding and pressure on the Stag guards.
While second chance shots have helped Fairfield immensely in its first three games, the team's vulnerability clearly lies in the backcourt, where a freshman starts at point guard.
"We need to exploit them [in the backcourt]," Gilmore said. "We can definitely win the game if we do that." IVY LEAGUE STANDINGS
Team Conf. Overall Home Away Streak Columbia 0-0 2-1 2-1 0-0 Won 2 Princeton 0-0 2-1 0-0 2-1 Won 1 Cornell 0-0 1-1 1-0 0-1 Won 1 Dartmouth 0-0 1-1 1-0 0-1 Won 1 Penn 0-0 1-1 0-1 1-0 Won 1 Harvard 0-0 1-2 1-1 0-1 Won 1 Yale 0-0 1-2 1-2 0-0 Lost 1 Brown 0-0 0-3 0-1 0-2 Lost 3 STATISTICAL SCORING LEADERS League Overall
Player/School GP Pts Avg GP< Tab>Pts Avg Rullman,Harvard 0 0 0.0 3 67 22.3 Casey,Columbia 0 0 0.0 3 64 21.3 Jenkins,Columbia 0 0 0.0 3 63 21.0 Palmer,Dartmouth 0 0 0.0 2 36 18.0 Pierce,Penn 0 0 0.0 2 35 17.5 Gaca,Cornell 0 0 0.0 2 35 17.5 STATISTICAL REBOUNDING LEADERS League Overall
Player/School GP Reb Avg GP< Tab>Reb Avg Palmer,Dartmouth 0 0 0.0 2 25 12.5 Moore,Penn 0 0 0.0 2 21 10.5 Marshall,Cornell 0 0 0.0 2 18 9.0 Fitzgerald,Yale 0 0 0.0 3 23 7.7 Casey,Columbia 0 0 0.0 3 23 7.7 Rullman,Harvard 0 0 0.0 3 22 7.3