California 69, Harvard 54

It’s safe to say that Harvard—which ranks first in the Ivy League both in field-goal defense (40.4 percent) and steals (113)—makes its living on the defensive end of the floor. Against Cal, the Crimson got beaten at its own game.

The Bears held Crimson to one of its worst shooting percentages of the year and caused 25 Harvard turnovers en route to a comfortable 69-54 victory. The Crimson frontcourt struggled the most against the Bears’ forwards, who each stood 6’10 or taller. Harvard’s best inside player, Coleman, shot a dismal 1-of-9 from the floor and Cal blocked eight Crimson shots.

Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan emptied his bench in an effort to counter Cal’s size. Seven-foot center Brian Sigafoos and 6’8 freshman Graham Beatty both played well above their season averages minutes-wise. The pair helped Harvard hang tough on the boards—the Crimson pulled down just one fewer rebound in the game—but could not muster much offensively.

“It was harder for our big guys to get open looks,” Winter said. “It was hard for us to get position at all—their guys were both 6’11 and they were both good athletes, as well.”

Harvard fell behind early, and even after a small spurt narrowed the gap to 15-12, a 10-2 Cal run put the game away early. The Bears closed out the first half with a 37-25 lead.

The second half brought little relief. Even while Cal shot a horrid 30 percent, Harvard failed to settle into any kind of offensive rhythm with all the turnovers it was committing. Bears reserve A.J. Diggs played only 11 minutes in the game, but even that was enough time to grab six steals. Prasse-Freeman was Harvard’s worst offender on turnovers—he coughed the ball up nine times.

“We’re turning the ball over too much,” Winter said. “Our overall execution on offense needs to improve.”

Harvey was the Crimson’s only bright spot Saturday, pouring in a game-high 24 points. Harvey shot 8-of-17 overall—including 4-of-8 from the three-point line—while playing a game-high 34 minutes. He received All-Tournament honors for his two-day performance.

Harvard 81, Sacred Heart 69

For the second time in three games, Merchant ignited a key second-half run to lift Harvard to victory at Lavietes Pavilion.

This time the victim was Sacred Heart. After an up-and-down start to the second half that saw 11 lead changes, Harvard went ahead to stay with 8:15 to play thanks to a 14-2 spurt. Merchant accounted for six of those 14 points, including the go-ahead basket. He scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half.

Besides Merchant, three other Harvard players scored in double-digits, including senior captain Drew Gellert, who chipped in a season-high 13. Gellert also had five steals to lead a Harvard squad that forced 22 turnovers, 15 off steals. Entering tomorrow’s game against Dartmouth, Gellert needs just two more takeaways to move into a tie for first place on Harvard’s all-time steals list.