For the second straight game, Hamilton delivered three of his six field goals from long range. He came out of halftime firing, tallying ten of his team’s first 18 points, including a three-pointer with 5:21 remaining that gave the Crusaders their first double-digit lead, 52-42.
Willard believes that Hamilton’s 11 steals thus far are no aberration, going so far as to predict that “Kevin will wind up in the top 10 in the nation.”
Holy Cross will need Hamilton to step up in a big way if they are to reclaim the Patriot League crown it lost last year to Lehigh. The Crusaders, who had been to the NCAA tournament three straight seasons before ending last year at 13-15, were picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League’s preseason poll.
INSIDE-OUTSIDE
Sullivan admits that with the return of the 7’ Cusworth and the emergence of Stehle, the typically “perimeter-dominated” Harvard has had to adjust its offense.
“Certainly we’ve changed the way that we play so our front court guys get more touches,” Sullivan said.
The adjustments, however, led the Crimson offense to take an unexpected turn in the first half of last night’s game. Kevin Rogus and captain Jason Norman—who ranked first and third, respectively, on last year’s team in both points and field goal attempts—combined for zero points on zero field goal attempts during the first 20 minutes of play.
The duo totaled only four points on five shots by game’s end.
Sullivan attributed the lack of participation in the offense by his two senior guards in part to the success of the team’s inside game against Notre Dame—Cusworth and Stehle combined for 28 points and 23 rebounds in last Friday’s loss.
“I think the guys were trying to play off of them, and maybe as a result were a little stand-offish in terms of being assertive themselves,” Sullivan said. “[The guards] are still learning how to play with those guys, how to play off those guys.”
Cusworth, who got touches on virtually every first-half possession, looked to be on his way to a second straight double-double with 11 points and five boards at the intermission. However, he was shut down by a swarming second-half Holy Cross defense that collapsed every time the Crimson looked inside to Cusworth, Stehle or reserve forward Graham Beatty. Cusworth finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Senior guard David Giovacchini—who had just one of his game-high six assists in the second half—agreed that the team must focus on moving the ball and opening up more shots.
“We were having trouble passing the ball inside and out as a team,” Giovacchini said. “Hopefully we’ll come together and we won’t stagnate as much...that will be a key to winning some games.”
—Staff writer Gregory B. Michnikov can be reached at michnik@fas.harvard.edu.