The Crimson was unaccustomed to facing the zone for so extended a stretch and it showed. Cornell forced 20 turnovers and accounted for 12 steals.

The hot Big Red shooting and the Crimson’s inability to crack the zone allowed Cornell to race out to a 43-28 lead at halftime. After the break, the Big Red continued to pour it on, at one point leading by 20 points.

Harvard would get no closer than 10 the remainder of the night, squandering spurts of momentum with costly turnovers and missed outside shots.

Senior point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman paced the Crimson with 14 points and eight assists.

Harvard 77, Columbia 63

On the strength of an incredible first half, the Crimson was able to overcome a lackluster stretch run to earn a 77-63 victory over Columbia on Friday night.

With 6:45 left in the game, Lions guard Allan MacQuarrie hit his second three in a row to finish off a 24-7 run that saw the Crimson’s lead dwindle from 23 points to just six, 68-62.

“We weren’t pointing fingers,” Prasse-Freeman said. “We were kind of pointing fingers at ourselves. We were just frustrated. We got away from the things that got us that lead.”

Harvard responded and quickly turned things around. The defense tightened as the Crimson held Columbia without a field goal for the rest of the game. Prasse-Freeman and sophomore guard Jason Norman—who started in place of departed senior Patrick Harvey—each hit key shots in the final six minutes to shut the door on the Lions.

Unlike the choppy second half, Harvard dominated the first half due to its accurate shooting and tenacious defense. The Crimson forced 13 Columbia turnovers and outrebounded the Lions at the offensive end of the floor. Harvard made a remarkable nine three-pointers in the half, shooting 64 percent from behind the arc.

The win assured Harvard of its fifth .500-or-better season in the last six years. Harvard has won 13 of its last 16 meetings with Columbia.

—Staff writer Daniel E. Fernandez can be reached at dfernand@fas.harvard.edu