Then Harvard went out the next night against an inferior Columbia team and laid an egg.

The short-sightedness is amplified by Harvard's disjunct schedule. The exam break that began yesterday creates, in effect, two mini-seasons, in which a single big win seems to make a season, and consecutive losses are a disaster.

Harvard beat Boston College in the season opener largely without Clemente on the floor. As Clemente--the team's only complete scoring threat entering the season--has worked into the lineup and started to produce offensively, Harvard has not significantly improved with the swingman's re-incorporation.

Harvard's bulk on the interior--seniors Paul Fisher and Bill Ewing and sophomore Tim Coleman--have been so unproductive at both ends (15 rebounds and 17 points between them for two games over the weekend) that Sullivan recently scrapped a two-guard set and returned Clemente to the four spot to make room for a third guard.

If Harvard really is "the class of the Ivy League," they have done precious little this season to demonstrate the point.

In a schedule scattered with a couple good wins, several bad losses, and otherwise uninspiring results, Harvard is a senior team battling for its Ivy-League life along with the rest of the league pack.

The season certainly is not lost--by the same token, two early losses in conference do not doom a year--but after Dartmouth this Wednesday the team will have three weeks without basketball to take stock of the first half of the season and determine if it likes the way it has progressed.

This is a deep, talented team. I just want to be able to look forward to watching them play in February.