Rivard, who connected on five of nine triples in the Crimson’s win over New Mexico, finished with just three points after missing five of six three-point attempts.

“They locked down on him,” Amaker said. “You could see it was a point of emphasis for their team to not lose him.”

While Rivard struggled to get open looks, Lyons seemed to get his shot at will. The Xavier transfer made three of six from beyond the arc and finished with 16 points in the second half alone on seven-of-eight attempts.

“When the chips are down, end of games, big games, he’s ready,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “He doesn’t give you that nervous energy; he gives you just the opposite, a confidence that I believe has become contagious on our team.”

Early on though, it was senior Solomon Hill who was getting it done for the Wildcats. At 6’7”, 220 lbs. with the ability to stroke from deep, Hill presented a tremendous challenge for the undersized Crimson heading into the contest. Hill exploited his matchup in the early going, sticking a fadeaway jumper over Saunders on the Wildcats’ opening possession.

With 8:06 remaining in the period, Hill had already posted 10 points to the Crimson’s nine. Hill’s transition dunk put his team ahead, 30-9.

After missing its first 12 attempts, Harvard’s first field goal came off a Chambers three-pointer with 12:16 to play in the first period and the Crimson trailing 17-2. But Harvard was not without opportunities. The Crimson had a number of open looks from deep early in the contest, but started the game zero of four from beyond the arc.

“We should have made ‘em,” Webster said. “If we would have made the shots, maybe the game would have been different.”

Things did not improve for the Crimson following Chambers’ make, as Harvard went into the break shooting one of seven from deep and down 18, 40-22.

Coming out of the half, the Crimson made a slight push. Smith finished a pass from Saunders, and Webster stuck a triple from the top of the key off a pass from Chambers to make it a 15-point game with 18:44 to go.

Arizona coach Sean Miller had seen enough, calling a 30-second timeout.

Lyons responded with seven straight points for the Wildcats, and Arizona was back up by 20 before the 12-minute mark.

“I really believe that once we came out of that timeout we regained our composure a little bit, not that we were rattled, but we regained that hard play and concentration on defense.”

Arizona extended its lead to as many as 25 before winning by 23.

Despite the lopsided outcome, the Crimson leaves Salt Lake City with few regrets, having won its first ever postseason contest and its third straight Ivy League title.

“We accomplished all our goals this year,” said Webster, the Crimson’s lone senior. “We have nothing to be ashamed of. We’re going out with our head held high, and that’s what really matters.”

—Staff writer Martin A. Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.