It’s been a while since Winter made as positive a contribution as he did this weekend, but maybe Saturday is a sign of things to come. If Harvard is to be successful this year, it better be.

Harvard has just four guys in its froncourt rotation and one of them, junior center Brian Sigafoos, continues to struggle to avoid foul trouble. Sigafoos’ size makes him an important cog for Harvard on both of the ends of the floor, but on Saturday, he had just two points—and four fouls—in 11 minutes.

“He labored a little bit getting into his rhythm. That’s a cause for concern because we’ve got to get more from Brian,” Sullivan said.

Even without Sigafoos, Harvard again won the battle of the boards, pulling down 48 boards to the Sea Wolves’ 38. Just under half of those came off the offensive glass, which helped mitigate Harvard’s poor field-goal shooting (37 percent).

More importantly, the Crimson continued its trend of dominating the defensive glass.

That is a big improvement over last year, when even on the nights when Harvard played good defense, it gave its opponents too many second opportunities.

The true test for this team will come when it starts playing more games against bigger teams and on the road. One thing Harvard has not done well in recent years is win away from Lavietes.

That test begins tomorrow, when Harvard will face Boston University at Case Gymnasium.

On Saturday, the Terriers beat Holy Cross in Worcester, something the Crimson couldn’t do two weeks ago. Two of B.U.’s three leading scores are froncourt players, and one of them—6’8 forward Billy Collins—is pulling down eight boards a game.

If, after tomorrow, it can still be said that Harvard is outrebounding its opponents and defending well down low, then there will be genuine cause for excitement. And maybe—just maybe—the Crimson will surprise some people this year.