“Assuming that he’s fine, he’s going to start,” Amaker said.
Particularly critical to this weekend’s contests will be the Crimson’s perimeter defense, as both its opponents receive the bulk of their offense from the backcourt.
On Friday, Harvard will have its hands full with the Bears’ guard duo of Matt Sullivan and Sean McGonagill—the Ivy League’s third- and fourth-leading scorers, respectively. In their visit to Cambridge, the duo combined for 38 points on 11-for-22 shooting.
“It’s going to be important that we [defend] the lines—the three-point line, and keep them off the foul line,” Amaker said. “They’re really good behind the arc.”
The Crimson had more success in its previous matchup with Yale’s Austin Morgan. The 5’11” guard, who is the league’s No. 8 scorer at 11.3 points per game, was limited to nine points on two-of-five shooting.
“We’re going to try to do the same [against Morgan],” Amaker said. “When he plays well and gets easy looks, they’ve been a very, very good team. So our point of emphasis has been to see if we can have an awareness for him. And our kids, they’ve done a really good job with that, so hopefully that will continue on Saturday.”
But unlike in the last Harvard-Yale matchup, Morgan will likely be joined in the lineup by freshman forward Justin Sears this time.
Sears, the league’s No. 12 scorer and No. 6 rebounder, missed the teams’ previous meeting, but has since been effective, posting in double-figures in three of his last four games.
Sears has also been a force on the offensive glass, averaging 2.5 offensive rebounds per game since his return.
“He’s going to give them one of the things that concerns me already—they’re the best offensive rebounding team in our league and then add him now,” Amaker said.
With Sears back in the lineup, the Bulldogs have gone 3-1 with victories over Princeton and Columbia, the teams picked to finish first and third, respectively, in the conference’s preseason poll.
On Saturday, the Crimson will try to avoid being added to the Bulldogs’ list of victims.
“We know it’s a long horse race and there’s a lot of basketball to be played,” Amaker said.
—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @martinkessler91.