The lack of an inside presence limited Harvard’s offensive options, but it wasn’t making any excuses.

“We don’t have the depth that we used to have; we don’t have bigger bodies, and it hurts,” Lin said. “But we have enough guys to win this game.”

SLOW AND STEADY

With their opponent struggling to put the ball in the basket up until the last few minutes, the Tigers had no such troubles.

Predicated on ball movement, the traditional Princeton offense went an efficient 9-of-18 from the floor in the initial 20 minutes.

Coming out of the locker room, the squad’s philosophy grew more conservative. Looking to protect its lead—which reached 14 with 12 minutes to play—Princeton did its best to make the most of every possession, content to hold the ball into the late seconds of the shot clock.

Defensive breakdowns by Harvard eventually left shooters wide open, and they hit on several open looks from behind the arc. The Tigers sank four of the five three-pointers it attempted in the second half.

Once the desperate Crimson turned up the defensive pressure, Princeton began to break down with the ball, committing multiple shot clock violations and missing wide-open looks. But with Harvard forced to foul, Princeton took advantage of strong free throw shooting to put the game away.

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.