Pictured: Keith Wright shot a combined 17-for-25 from the
floor in two games against Dartmouth and leads the Ivy league in
field goal percentage.
The Particulars
Harvard hits the road for an important road weekend in the Ivy
League as the Crimson visits Columbia on Friday night in New York
City. Friday's game will match strength on strength as the Lions
enter the week ranked sixth nationally in 3-point shooting while
the Crimson ranks second in the Ivy League in perimeter defense.
Series History
Columbia leads the all-time series, 93-69, although
Harvard broke a five-game skid against the Lions last season in
Cambridge, Mass. Last season in NYC, Columbia escaped with a
one-point victory on a last second shot.
Last Year's Meetings
In the first meeting a year ago, Kevin Bulger made a
floater with 4.2 seconds left. After a pair of Jeremy Lin free
throws gave Harvard a 59-58 lead, Bulger had a jumper miss wide
right. Harvard could not get the rebound however and Columbia got
another look. Bulger took the inbounds pass at the top of the key
and spun towards the left, finding the bottom of the net with a
floater with 4.2 seconds. Lin led all scorers with 19 points and
added three steals
Back in Cambridge, Drew Housman '09 had six steals
and a balanced scoring effort led Harvard to a 72-63 victory.
Jeremy Lin and Keith Wright had 14 points apiece. Lin also finished
with game-highs of nine rebounds and five assists. Oliver McNally
added 10 points apiece while Wright had four blocks. Columbia was
led by Noruwa Agho's 13 points while Patrick Foley had 12.
Columbia's Last Time
Out
Columbia has started 0-2 in the league with losses of 21
and 26 points to league favorite Cornell. The last meeting on
Saturday saw Cornell make eight triples while Columbia slumped to a
23 percent shooting mark as the Big Red pulled away easily.
Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker
Tommy Amaker (Duke '87) begins his third season as head
coach of the Harvard men's basketball team. He registered his 200th
career coaching victory Nov. 13 in the 2009-10 season opener at
Holy Cross.
He brings a 212-178 career head coaching record into the game,
including a 109-83 record at Michigan at a 68-55 record at Seton
Hall.
Amaker came to Harvard after a six year stint as Michigan's head
coach. Inheriting a program that was reeling from institutional and
NCAA sanctions, he led the Wolverines to the postseason three
times, winning the 2004 NIT title, reaching the championship game
of the 2006 NIT, and advancing to the second round of the 2007
tournament. The 2006-07 season was Michigan's second straight
20-win campaign and its third in four years. The Wolverines were
ranked as high as No. 20 in the nation during the 2005-06
season.
If I Can make It There, I'll make It
Anywhere
Harvard has won just once in its last six visits to Levien Gym,
that coming three years ago.
RPI Watch
Harvard's RPI (collegerpi.com) has been rated as high as
21st (its highest ranking in school history coming on Jan. 1) and
finished the nonconference schedule ranked 23rd.
William & Mary, which Harvard defeated, has been as high as
second nationally. The win is the only Ivy League victory against a
Top 25 RPI team this season.
Harvard has three of the Ivy's six wins against Top 100 teams
(William & Mary, Rice, Boston College). Among Harvard's losses
are at #6 UConn and at #14 Georgetown.
Playing The Best
Two of Harvard's losses have come against the top-ranked
conference this season, the Big East.
Sports Illustrated
This week, Sports Illustrated became the latest media
outlet to feature the Harvard men's basketball team with an
in-depth look at the program.
Running On Empty
Harvard has gone through a pair of 13-day breaks from
competition this season, the latest coming these past two weeks
between Dartmouth games. On Saturday, Harvard shook off season lows
in field goal, 3-point field goal and free throw percentage to win
on the road against a Dartmouth team that had all of its wins on it
home court.
In The Record Books
Harvard's 74-66 win at Santa Clara (1/04) set a program
record for nonleague victories in a season (11) - surpassing the
previous mark of nine set back in 1957-58.
Race To Double Figures
This season, Harvard reached the 10-win plateau faster
than any season in the program's 99-year history (Jan. 2) with a
92-71 win at Seattle.
Best Season Continues
Harvard's 11-3 nonleague record marks its best record
outside of Ivy League play in school history and establishes its
best overall start as well with a 10-3 mark against Division I
competition.
Six Shooters
Harvard is currently enjoying a six-game winning streak.
Harvard's last six-game win streak came in the 1996-97. Its last
seven-game streak came back in 1995-96. Its last eight-game
streak came back in 1984-85.
Road Warriors
Harvard is looking for its seventh road victory which
would tie its mark from a year ago
The program record for road and neutral wins is nine, set three
times (1970-71, 1971-72, 1996-97).
Diversity
Harvard owns wins against 10 different conference
affiliations - marking another program record. Harvard has beaten
teams from the America East (Boston Univ., New Hampshire),
Atlantic-10 (George Washington), Atlantic Coast (Boston College),
Colonial Athletic (William & Mary), Conference USA (Rice),
Patriot League (Holy Cross), West Coast (Santa Clara), New England
Men's & Women's (MIT), two independents (Bryant, Seattle) and
Ivy school Dartmouth (twice).
Rookie
Kyle Casey was the Ivy league Rookie of the Week
following his 19-point, 10-rebound effort at Dartmouth on Saturday
during which he sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the first half
and went 6-of-7 from the floor overall.
Complete Game Notes
For complete games notes in PDF format, click on the link
at the beginning of this page.
