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LAWRENCE, Kan.–The Harvard men’s basketball team (2-6) saved its best performance of the young season for Saturday’s road clash with perennial heavyweight No. 4/6 Kansas (6-1). The Crimson ultimately fell, 75-69, but breakout performances from freshmen Weisner Perez and Tommy McCarthy allowed Harvard to push the Jayhawks to the brink in the team’s first matchup with a ranked opponent since last season’s two-point NCAA tournament loss to North Carolina.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

The Crimson’s ball control was the key to the team’s second half surge in which it outscored Kansas, 40-37. After committing 15 turnovers in the first half, Harvard turned the ball over just four times after intermission. McCarthy had just one turnover in his 20 minutes of second half action. Entering Saturday, the team was averaging 15 turnovers a contest.

“Taking care of the ball is one key for us, being on the road and being here against their pressure,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We can run solid offense and have positive possessions, not turn it over in the open floor and let them get out and get the crowd riled up and get this place rocking and rolling.”

In the first half, the Crimson appeared anxious offensively, with many passes being bobbled inside by or intercepted by the Jayhawks’ long backcourt defenders. Kansas had 12 points off turnovers and 13 fast break points in the first half. Harvard’s starting five alone combined for 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. The 15 total turnovers were the most the team has had in a half all season.

“I think a big thing for us, we just want to come together and make ways to tighten up our game in the second half,” junior forward Zena Edosomwan said. “Once you get out there making better decisions, I think getting all the nerves out, guys were more relaxed and ready to play.”

The second half was a different story. The Jayhawks lost their best perimeter defender in Wayne Selden, Jr., as the junior was battling foul trouble. As Edosomwan began attracting double teams down low, The Crimson’s guards were able to capitalize on greater floor spacing to take an open shot or find a teammate in the paint.

Harvard was able to attempt seven more field goals than it did in the first half and went to the line 11 times in the game’s final 20 minutes. The team’s ball control allowed the Crimson to hold Kansas to just two fast break points in the second half. The four turnovers were the fewest the team has had in a half this season.

QUITE THE ENCORE

Chicago is known for producing players who shine when the spotlight is brightest. Four years after Anthony Davis broke the Jayhawks’ heart in the National Championship and eight years after Derrick Rose nearly did the same, Perez did everything he could to make Harvard the first Ivy League team to hand Kansas a loss.

“Weisner is a tough kid,” Amaker said. “He’s from a tough part of Chicago and he’s a scrapper, and so he’s a kid that I’m not surprised about how he has been able to give us that kind of lift in certain areas.”

After posting career highs in points on Wednesday night against Northeastern, Perez unleashed his strongest game of the season. He led the Crimson with 15 points in just 20 minutes.

After seeing eight minutes of action in the first half, Perez was a fixture in the Harvard lineup down the stretch, adding 11 points and five rebounds after intermission. The freshman provided a change of pace for the Crimson on the offensive end and on the glass despite being undersized against the Jayhawk frontline.

“Weisner is a great spark for us,” McCarthy said. “He plays his rear end off every time he gets the opportunity and he has been a huge spark for us off the bench.”

Perez’s scoring touch Saturday also came at key moments. He cut the Kansas lead to one on two separate occasions and sank two free throws with 7:35 left to tie the game at 56.

Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at sgleason@college.harvard.edu.