Maybe, just maybe, Harvard handed Stanford its first loss at Maples Pavilion in 60 games because all of the Crimson's players showed the poise necessary to make 5,000-plus fans a non-factor. All you had to see was the way Harvard's bench would leap to its feet and cheer with fists pumping every time a teammate hit a crucial bucket to understand the type of desire and character the Crimson displayed.

Harvard showed the same never-say-die attitude last night against Arkansas, scratching and clawing for every point against a team from the SEC, the strongest conference in the nation. The SEC sent six teams to the Big Dance, more than any other conference, and five of them made the Sweet Sixteen.

So while Harvard's 18-point loss to Arkansas may seem to counter the point of this column, it actually lends support. Considering that the average margin of victory in second-round games was better than 14 points and the lowest seed in a second round game other than Harvard was a 12, the Crimson's effort was admirable at worst, superb at best.

Harvard was also missing two of its players due to injury coming into the Tournament, and the Crimson lost another one under more serious circumstances less than 24 hours before its contest against Arkansas. Junior center Rose Janowski was taken to the hospital around midnight on Sunday night because of symptomatic ovarian cyst. She was scheduled to undergo surgery last night at 11 p.m. Pacific time.

Harvard played well in the face of a less-than-ideal situation, but it never made excuse--and it does not need to. Two nights earlier, the Crimson made history, and too many people were denying the team its due credit.

Despite bowing out of the Tournament last night following a fantastic run, Harvard has etched its name in the record books forever. Everyone involved with college basketball should stop making excuses and realize that the Crimson is simply a quality ballclub. Just ask one of the top coaches in the country.

ARKANSAS, 82-64 at Maples Arena, Palo Alto, Cal. Arkansas  45  37  -  82 Harvard  32  32  -  64

ARKANSAS:Jones 0-1 0-0 0; Karlin 6-10 4-4 16; Smith 7-14 2-2 19; Willits 6-8 0-0 18; Messer 7-15 0-0 15; Stancle 0-3 0-0 0; Christensen 1-5 2-2 4; Adams 2-4 1-2 5; Bragg 0-0 1-2 1; Satterfield 0-1 0-0 0; Anderson 1-1 2-2 4; Wright 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 30-63 12-14 82.

HARVARD: Miller 4-10 0-0 8; Feaster 10-20 4-7 28, Russel 3-4 1-2 7; Seanor 1-4 0-0 2; Basil 3-10 0-0 8; Kowal 1-3 0-0 2; Egelhoff 1-5 1-2 4; Brandt 0-3 0-0 0; Grossman 1-1 0-0 2; Zitnik 1-1 0-0 3; Boike 0-0 0-0 0; Kinneen 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 25-61 6-11 64.