The season remains young, and the game will not even count in the Ivy League standings.

But ask the Harvard men's basketball team (1-1) about the importance of its game tomorrow against St. Francis in Brooklyn, N.Y., and you realize how badly the players want a victory.

"Right now we consider this a must-win situation, because we want to get the team over .500 heading into next week's game against Holy Cross," sophomore forward Kyle Snowden said.

"At practice [on Thursday] everybody was ready to go. We can't do anything what happened [in a 69-66 loss to Army] on Tuesday. We just have to do everything in our power to win this next game."

Harvard will play a St. Francis team that it blew out last year, 77-52.

Like Babson, the Crimson's season-opening opponent, St. Francis is a markedly smaller and less talented team than Harvard.

But the Crimson players refuse to take victory for granted.

"We're pretty focused on getting back on the winning side," said sophomore guard David Demian. "We've been practicing pretty hard, and we're not taking anything for granted."

Mighty Morris to the Rescue

Senior point guard Dan Morris, who saw limited action last year as a backup to Tarik Campbell, played a career-high 26 minutes against Army and collected five assists, a block and a steal with only one turnover.

The 5'10" Washington native, whom The Sporting News tabbed as the best player under six feet in the Ivy League, played extra minutes because starters Jared Leake and James White both garnered five fouls.

Though a backup, Morris occupies a key role in the Crimson's new up-tempo offensive attack.

He played solidly in the season opener against Babson and seems poised for his best season at Harvard.

Fab Frosh?

Harvard carries three freshmen on its roster this season, and while all earned strong praise during preseason workouts, only one, Wisconsin native Michael Scott, has put in significant minutes in the first two games.