Pictured: Christian Webster hit his first seven shots,
including six 3-pointers against Appalachian State in a career-high
24 point performance (David Mayo).
BOONE N.C. – Appalachian State withstood
an early blitz from Harvard as the homestanding Mountaineers
defeated the Harvard men's basketball team, 93-71, in the
first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) in Boone,
N.C.
Appalachian State (23-12) simply outrebounded the smaller
Harvard (21-8) team and raced out for points whenever it could in a
fast-paced contest.
“(ASU) really dug in with defensive pressure after we
blitzed them early,” said head coach Tommy Amaker.
“Their frontline guys were just outstanding tonight versus
our guys. I am proud of the year we were able to accomplish with 21
wins. I thought our kids gave great effort but we ran into a team
tonight that played exceptionally well.”
Harvard hit on 6-of-8 shots from deep to start in building a
12-point lead midway through the opening half. However, the
Mountaineers pushed the ball up-court on every Harvard miscue to
score in transition and grabbed offensive rebounds on its rare
missed to convert 12 second-chance points. It took its first lead
late in the half as part of a 13-0 run to claim a 43-37 halftime
lead.
In the second half, rebounding trouble continued to plague
Harvard as the home team built a 51-40 lead coming out of the first
media timeout. ASU pulled out to a 62-46 lead at the 11:30 mark and
the Crimson could not get back into contention as ASU pulled away
for its first postseason victory.
Donald Sims and Kellen Brand led ASU with 22 and 14 points,
respectively. ASU battered Harvard on the boards, grabbing 39
compared to 25 for the Crimson and outscoring Harvard in the paint,
40-14. In all, ASU scored 20 second-chance points to just one for
Harvard.
Harvard's impressive freshman trio of Christian Webster,
Kyle Casey and Brandy Curry led the way while senior guard Jeremy
Lin also played well, scoring 11 points with seven rebounds and
five assists in his final collegiate game. Lin leaves Harvard
as the only player in Ivy League history to record 1,450 points
(1,482), 450 rebounds (494), 400 assists (406) and 200 steals
(225).
Webster was electric, scoring a game and career-high 24 points
after hitting his first seven shots, six from deep, in a 7-of-8
display overall. Casey scored 10 early points and finished with 14
while Curry had eight points, three assists and three steals.
Harvard jumped off to an 8-0 start on six quick points from
Casey and three Harvard steals before ASU had attempted a shot. ASU
used a fast-paced style to quickly get back into the game but
consecutive 3-pointers from Webster, including one as part of a
four-point play, made it 22-12 Harvard and forced an ASU timeout at
the 13-minute mark. Coming out of the timeout, Webster continued
his streak, hitting two more from deep for four-straight as the
Crimson maintained its double digit lead, 30-18 halfway through the
session.
Harvard hit on 6-of-8 from deep to start while ASU was 4-of-5
itself. The Mountaineers also exerted itself on the offensive
glass, and used its second looks to get right back into it,
trailing only 32-26 after a Brand triple at 7:23. Harvard went
through a 3:50 scoreless drought and ASU got within two before
Curry struck from deep on a wide open look to make it 35-30 at 4:50
to play.
After a nifty layup from an inbounds play from Lin, ASU rattled
off 13 straight, taking its first lead of the game, 39-37, on a
fastbreak layup from Brand at the 1:20 mark.
After grabbing its 30-18 lead, Harvard scored just seven points
during the last 10:24 of play including droughts of 3:50 and 4:17
while ASU ran full ahead and shot a blistering 55 percent from the
floor including a 7-of-13 mark from deep.
ASU connected on 12-of-21 3-pointers for the game. For its part,
Harvard hit 11-of-25 from long range.
