The Harvard men’s basketball team (9-3) righted the ship Monday with a 46-point thrashing of Saint Rose—the team’s largest-ever victory under coach Tommy Amaker—but faces a bigger challenge in Hanover, NH as it starts conference play Saturday against Dartmouth (7:00 p.m., Ivy League Digital Network). Below, The Back Page takes a look at the three main things to keep your eye on as Harvard starts the “14-game tournament”.
Off the Mat: After finishing seventh or worse in the Ivy League for four consecutive years, Dartmouth rose to sixth last year without star big man Gabas Maldunas, who was sidelined for the entire conference season. Dartmouth notched back-to-back at Yale and Brown to close out the season, and with the exception of its two games against Harvard (two losses by a combined 46 points), was within arm’s reach (13 points or less) in each of its other losses. The Big Green are looking to rise out of the basement of the Ancient Eight this season behind its trio of double digit scorers in Alex Mitola, Connor Boehm, and Maldunas. Despite playing just 12 games, Mitola is tied for the league-lead in three-pointers made; his marksmanship and low turnover rate have given him the best offensive rating in the conference.
Cracking Down: The Crimson posted one of the most dominant Ivy League seasons in recent memory last year, outscoring its opponents by nearly 16 points a game and losing just one game all year—at home to Yale. The team’s success started on the defensive end, where it suffocated opponents to the tune of just 58.8 points a game—the second-best team, Princeton, was nearly four points worse. This year’s team has struggled offensively but has held teams to just 38.7 percent shooting and 56.5 points a game, the latter figure good for 16th best in the country. Harvard started off last year by holding Dartmouth to 47.5 points a game in its two meetings, and it will need to come out with the same defensive energy Saturday.
Saunders Theater: Through the nonconference season, senior wing Wesley Saunders has established himself as the favorite to win Ivy League Player of the Year. Not only does he lead the conference in Win Shares and PER, he also pulls off the impressive double act of ranking second in both offensive and defensive rating. More conventional stats bear out the same thing—Saunders leads the league in steals per game and field goal percentage, while ranking third in points and fourth in assists per contest. Last year, Saunders’ POY win was a subject of debate—both Yale forward Justin Sears and Princeton guard Tyler Bray had better statistics—but the senior’s phenomenal nonconference play has put a moratorium on any doubt as to whom the frontrunner is this year.
