Princeton 67, Harvard 61

PRINCETON, NJ—The seniors on the Harvard squad had never beaten the Tigers (8-7, 2-0 Ivy), and had never really even gotten close at Jadwin Gymnasium. So Friday night’s loss to Princeton, in a game where the Crimson held a lead with under two minutes remaining, was particularly disheartening.

“All the guys have got a pretty bitter taste in their mouths,” Merchant said. “The game was played on our terms.”

Indeed, for most of the game, the Crimson defended well against Princeton’s bread-and-butter perimeter attack, which relies on off-the-ball movement and three-pointers. Harvard held the Tigers to just 17.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Offensively, Harvard seemed out of sync at stretches, especially when foul trouble forced substitutions. But the play of Merchant, who led the Crimson with 18 points, and Cusworth kept Harvard in the game.

The final eight minutes were as exciting as any stretch of basketball played by the two teams this season. Harvard took its first lead of the second half, 49-48, on a Merchant free throw, but Princeton stormed back to build a 57-52 advantage with 5:33 remaining.

A Merchant three-pointer cut the lead to 58-57 a minute later, and the Crimson jumped back on top when Harvey hit a baseline floater. The teams exchanged free throws on the next several possessions, resulting in a 62-61 Princeton lead with 1:31 left.

Harvard would probably like to forget how this game ended. First, miscommunication resulted in a turnover, but Princeton missed a jump shot on its ensuing possession. Harvey then brought the ball up the court with Winter in front of him and lobbed a pass that Winter bobbled.

The ball ended up in Princeton’s hands and an easy layup on the fast break made it 64-61 with 18 seconds left, leaving Harvard with one last chance.

Using Harvey as a decoy, the Crimson got the ball to Merchant in the corner for a three-pointer. But the shot was tipped and clanked off the side of the rim.

Sullivan was not happy with the way things ended but stressed his team’s overall performance.

“I think given the circumstances—both teams being off—I felt both teams played pretty well, to be honest with you,” he said. “You take 20 days off for exam and reading period, you never know what to expect, but I feel pretty good about the way we played tonight.”

The Crimson stumbled in its first Ivy road trip, but will head south again next weekend to Brown and Yale. Penn and Princeton make the trip up to Lavietes Pavilion the weekend of Feb. 21-22.

—Staff writer Rahul Rohatgi can be reached at rohatgi@fas.harvard.edu.