PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—For the Harvard men’s basketball team Friday night, it was a game of either feast or famine, particularly on the defensive end.

On the plus side, the Crimson showed off its ability to force turnovers at a high clip from the opening tip.

Rookie point guard Brandyn Curry brought his usual defensive energy to the starting role, forcing Quaker star Zack Rosen into a five-second violation on Penn’s first offensive possession.

Whether it was stripping him on a drive or forcing him into an ill-advised pass, Curry and co-captain Jeremy Lin combined efforts to hold the sophomore guard Rosen—who leads the Ivy League in conference scoring average—to two points and a game-high four turnovers in the first half.

“He has a good handle, shifty off the bounce,” Curry said of his Quaker counterpart. “They run a lot of picks to try to free him up, so it’s really tough to guard him.”

Rosen’s teammates were no better at taking care of the ball. Seven other Penn players had at least one turnover in the opening frame, with starting guards Dan Monckton and Rob Belcore each contributing two.

Looking to take advantage of passes on the perimeter, Lin and sophomore guard Max Kenyi both had two steals in the first half, but on occasion, Harvard didn’t even need to expend any effort to regain possession.

Penn’s Drew Godwin threw away an inbounds pass when he passed the ball to Rosen before the star sophomore was ready. Though no Harvard player was in the vicinity, the ball hit Rosen in the head and went out of bounds.

Overall, the Crimson did well to capitalize on the 21 total giveaways—13 of which came in the first half—converting them into 24 points.

And its high-intensity defensive pressure was especially crucial during the contest’s final 36 seconds, when Harvard fell behind, 66-65, and was forced to foul.

Because the Crimson had several fouls to give, Penn was forced to inbound the ball from its own end of the court four times in a row.

On the first inbounds play, good defensive pressure by Harvard forced a Quaker timeout with 33.4 seconds to go. Penn would get the ball into play on its second try, but Curry knocked it out of bounds.

Then Rosen received the ball and was fouled by Kenyi, setting up another inbounds situation.

On the next play, Mike Howlett received the pass and tried to throw it back to Rosen, but he sent the ball high. Penn’s final turnover of the night gave Harvard the ball with 25 seconds left, setting up freshman Kyle Casey’s eventual game-winning free throws.

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