“We were very surprised [to be down six at halftime],” Sullivan said. “They were outrunning us down the court and being very aggressive with their offense. So we were surprised that we were able to get within six, and I think it gave the guys a little bit of confidence.”

The six-point halftime gap was hardly indicative of the level of play in the first half as Harvard shot a dismal 20.7 percent in the first half—18.2 percent from three—while Princeton hit at a 42.3-percent clip from the field.

Nevertheless, despite shooting 40.0 percent in the second half, the Crimson finished at a disappointing 29.6 percent for the game—its fourth-worst shooting performance of the season.

“It was more difficult to hang in there because we couldn’t make shots all night,” Sullivan said.

“Sometimes with teams that haven’t done well or young teams, making shots is really your confidence builder and they didn’t have that at all. So, I give our guys credit for sticking it out.”

Wallace continued his recent strong play for the Tigers, scoring a game-high 16 points and ripping down a season-high 12 boards for his first double-double since Princeton’s season opener.

Rogus led Harvard with 15 points on 5-12 shooting from three-point range. The rest of the Crimson squad went just 1-10 from behind the arc.

Harvard made just seven of its 15 attempts from the free-throw line in the second half, including a 2-6 stretch starting at the 9:33 mark during which both sides struggled from the field.

“[Free-throw shooting] certainly hurt us tonight,” Sullivan said.

“In similar circumstances with our win at Cornell [Feb. 21], we were making these free throws down the stretch...It’s one of our poorer [efforts]. You wouldn’t think it would happen at home.”

The Tigers—led by Wallace—dominated the paint by a 14-point margin, 32-18.

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