Despite a 23-point loss at Big East contender Providence, help is on the way for the Harvard men’s basketball team with the return of captain Brad Unger. The forward had missed the first five games to start the season with a stress fracture in his foot. But before the Saturday night game against the Friars, he took part in pre-game drills and was in uniform for the contest, as opposed to the coat and tie look he donned for the team’s previous games.

“Brad has practiced the last couple of days, so we’re trying to see where he is,” Crimson coach Tommy Amaker said. “It looks like he’s getting healthy, and it’s nice to have him back. As he works his way back in, gets his wind, gets a few more practices under his belt, I think he’s going to have a chance to play minutes for us.”

The return of Unger, who averaged 6.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, will be an especially big boost for the Crimson when it comes to rebounding the ball. Harvard was overmatched by Providence on the boards, as the Friars held a 33-18 edge in rebounding and had 15 second-chance points to the Crimson’s eight. Harvard has been out-rebounded, 214-185, on the season.

“It’s one thing having your captain on the bench, but it’s another thing having your captain on the floor with you,” junior forward Evan Harris said. “He’s a big body, he’s a wide load. Boxing him out in practice is hard for me, so I hope he can make it just as hard on opposing players.”

Amaker tried to get Unger into the game as the clock ran down, sending the captain to the scorer’s table with around a minute left. But there were no more stoppages of play until the final whistle, so Unger didn’t get to enter the game.

FAST START

Playing to its strengths, Harvard created turnovers and ran the fast break early on in the game, seizing a couple of leads and keeping the game close for the first half. The first points of the game came on a layup off an outlet pass from junior guard Drew Housman to fellow junior guard Andrew Pusar. Several possessions later, sophomore guard Jeremy Lin grabbed a defensive board and launched a great outlet to sophomore forward Pat Magnarelli who threw down a dunk, tying the game at 6.

“We were ready to play,” Amaker said. “It was nice to see our guys come out of the blocks and have some success.”

The quick Crimson kept taking it to Providence in the early going, grabbing its largest lead at 15-9 with 11:58 left in the half. Harvard led until the 7:08 mark, when Friars guard Jeff Xavier hit one of his seven three-pointers to put Providence ahead, 22-20.

At that point, the Crimson had forced four Providence turnovers, which led to 10 of its points. Of the 10 fast-break points it scored in the game, eight came in the first half.

THREE POINTERS

For the second straight year, Harvard shot very well in a loss at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Last year, the Crimson shot 56.5 percent from the floor in a 101-92 loss. This time out, the team hit 54.8 percent of its shots, but the Friars shot 58.1 percent.... Friars guard Sharud Curry, who torched the Crimson last year for 22 points and eight assists, missed the game with a leg injury. He has not played yet this season.... The game was Providence’s home opener; 7,742 fans were in attendance.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.