According to Sullivan, the Crimson will probably play a zone defense in order to neutralize the Stags’ backcourt speed and Gai’s frontcourt presence.

“We’ve beaten them the last two years and we’ve been playing zone the last two years,” Sullivan said. “So we’ll probably continue that in this game.”

A common theme for both the Crimson and the Stags is the reliance on young blood to fill major roles on the floor.

“One of our weaknesses is the fact that we have three sophomores that we have to ask a lot of,” O’Toole said.

That weakness is one to which Harvard can relate. The Crimson’s only returning starter is junior captain Jason Norman. The only other player on the team that logged significant minutes last year—Cusworth—will start the season in a cast. The opening night starting five for Harvard is likely to include sophomore Michael Beal, junior Kevin Rogus, Norman, sophomore Matt Stehle and junior Graham Beatty—a group which combined averaged 12.4 points per game last season.

Despite the new cast of characters, O’Toole expects nothing different from this Crimson group than he has seen in years’ past.

“Year in and year out Harvard is a great rebounding team and great defensively,” O’Toole said. “Plus, they’re always very well-disciplined on offense.”

—Staff writer Michael R. James can be reached at mrjames@fas.harvard.edu.