And so it was Friday when Princeton effectively neutralized Tim Hill--Harvard's leading scorer--with an aggressive zone in the half-court that prevented Hill's traditional one-on-one playmaking.

After the game, Sullivan was clearly surprised by the tactic from a team which historically has relied on man-to-man in the league.

"We hadn't seen the zone, and it really threw us off," Sullivan said. "We worked a lot on man-to-man switching during the week."

A brilliant defensive strategy? Maybe not: Princeton Coach Bill Carmody was surprised himself.

"In past years, we've played man-to-man in the league, but this year, from watching the tapes you'd see we haven't played man-to-man all year, so I'm surprised that [Sullivan] was surprised."

Finally, and most significantly, Penn and Princeton present the most difficult match-up problems in the league.

Especially without captain center Paul Fisher in the lineup, Harvard's front-court--which measures 6'2, 6'7, 6'9--faced Penn's 6'7, 6'7, 6'11 frontcourt and Princeton's of 6'6, 6'9, 6'10.

Both teams feature athletic swingmen (Princeton's Gabe Lewullis and Penn's Jed Ryan), who pose serious problems for either an undersized guard or a forward lacking enough foot speed and quickness.

Combined with athletic guards in C.J. Chapman and Michael Jordan and skilled centers Geoff Owens and Chris Young, Penn and Princeton stretch a team to the limit everywhere on the floor.

By the second half Saturday night, that expenditure of energy had simply taken its toll. A 14-point comeback against Princeton and an energetic opening at Penn were simply too much.

Even Clemente, whose 15-point night led all Harvard scorers and was probably the most admirable in a disastrous campaign, was clearly affected.

"I was very tired from [Princeton]," Clemente said after the Penn game on Saturday. "My legs and feet were just dead. We knew we could play with [Penn], but we couldn't put together 40 minutes."

And that from the guy with the good night?