Moundou-Missi, however, provided a dynamic performance on both ends of the floor. In the opening minutes of the game, the forward received a pass from sophomore wing Agunwa Okolie on the left baseline. He put the ball on the hardwood, and went up and under the basket, scooping the ball into the hoop.
His block with 8:05 left in the contest perhaps best encapsulated his defensive performance. After a Chambers missed pull-up jumper, Kilpatrick grabbed the outlet pass and took off the down the court. He looked to have an easy lane to the basket and laid the ball up, but Moundou-Missi came streaking down the paint, seemingly out of nowhere, and swatted the ball away, keeping Harvard’s eight-point advantage safe.
“Steve is our best post defender,” Amaker said. “He moves his feet very well and he’s very strong and can get up on the backboard to rebound it, but also [can] challenge and block shots…. [However,] we were a little lucky. Jackson missed a lot of things around the rim that I think ordinarily…he makes.”
—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at Juliet.spiesgans@thecrimson.com.