Brandyn Curry and the Crimson are 5-0 at home (Gil
Talbot).
The Particulars
No. 25 Harvard (14-2) closes out its non-conference
schedule by hosting George Washington (6-10) Saturday afternoon at
Lavietes Pavilion. The Crimson sits at 5-0 at home this season and
has won 22 straight at Lavietes, the seventh longest home win
streak in the country.
Game Coverage
Live video will be available with a
subscription at GoCrimson. WHRB's Scott Reed and James Yoon will
have the audio call on GoCrimson.com.
Live
statistics will also be available for the game at
GoCrimson.com.
Series History
Harvard and George Washington have met three times, with
the Crimson owning a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The Crimson
and Colonials have met in each of the last three seasons. GW won
the first game, 78-63, on Dec. 13, 2008, while the Crimson has
taken the last two, 66-53 at Lavietes on Dec. 30, 2009, as well as
67-62 in Washington D.C., Jan. 15, 2011.
Harvard's Last Time Out
The Crimson topped Monmouth by a score of 70-61 in a road
game Tuesday evening. Keith Wright amassed
a season-high in points (18), rebounds (15) and blocks (six), as he
shot 8-of-11 from the field. Laurent Rivard
drilled four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points, while Oliver McNally
went 8-of-8 from the foul line in the victory.
George Washington's Last Time Out
The Colonials are coming off a 69-61 at home over Rhode
Island Wednesday evening. Tony Taylor (18 points), David Pellom
(17) and Lasan Kromah (12) reached double figures in scoring.
Pellom (11 rebounds) and Kromah (10) also recorded double-doubles.
GW shot 50 percent from the field for the game (26-of-52) and
outrebounded the Rams, 41-34. Tony Taylor dished out six assists,
while Kromah had five helpers.
Harvard Against The Atlantic 10
Harvard owns a 19-37 record against teams that are
current members of the Atlantic 10 conference. The Crimson is 1-1
against A-10 teams this year after downing Saint Joseph's,
74-69, Dec. 31, and falling at Fordham, 60-54, Jan. 3.
Free-Throw Defense
Entering the weekend, Harvard was second in the nation in
free throw shooting defense, as opponents are only making 59.6
percent of attempts (142-of-240). Northern Arizona (59.4) sits
first and joins the Crimson and South Carolina State (.597) as the
only two teams allowing less than 60 percent shooting from the foul
line this season.
Stepping Up On D
The Crimson is allowing only 55.5 points per game this
season, good for sixth in the nation in scoring defense. Wisconsin
paces the nation, surrendering only 47.9 points per contest.
Harvard has only allowed 70 points once and surrendered 50 or less
points in seven games.
Coming Down With It
With his 15-rebound performance at Monmouth Jan. 10,
Keith Wright now has 20 double digit rebound games in his career.
Wright also has three double-doubles this season and has led
Harvard in rebounding in 11 of 16 contests. Wright stands 10th in
program history with 617 career rebounds. Harvard has outrebounded
its last seven opponents.
Non-Conference Victories
The Crimson has won 13 non-conference games this season,
a program record. Harvard won 11 nonleague games in 2009-10 and
again in 2010-11.
Takeaways
Entering the week, Brandyn Curry
ranked 25th in the country and second in the Ivy League with 2.3
steals per game.
Casting Ballots
The Crimson is ranked No. 25 in this week's ESPN/USA
Today coaches poll. Earlier this season, the Crimson became the
first Ivy team ranked in the AP poll since Princeton was rated No.
8 in the final poll of the 1997-98 season. Last week, Harvard was
No. 21 in the coaches poll and No. 22 in the AP poll, the highest
rankings in program history.
Harvard is the only Ivy League team to have received at least one
vote in a major national poll this season.
RPI Watch
Harvard currently sits at No. 51 in the RPI, according to
collegerpi.com. The Crimson earned the highest ranking in program
history, No. 14, Dec. 2, 2011.
Harvard As a Ranked Team
The Crimson is 6-2 as a ranked team in program history
with wins this season over Boston University, Florida Atlantic,
Boston College, Saint Joseph's, Dartmouth and Monmouth. Harvard is
3-0 at home as a ranked squad, while boasting a 3-2 record on the
road when ranked nationally.
Double-Double Show
Keith Wright leads the Crimson with three double-doubles
(at Holy Cross Nov. 15, Florida Atlantic Dec. 22 and at Monmouth
Jan. 10), while Kyle Casey
(Saint Joseph's Dec. 31) and Jonah Travis
(Seattle Dec. 4) have recorded one apiece this year. Wright has
amassed 16 double-doubles over the course of his career in
Cambridge.
Lavietes Is The Place To Be
Harvard is riding a 22-game win streak at home, a program
record. The current win streak at home is the longest for Harvard
at Lavietes Pavilion and is the seventh longest current streak in
the NCAA. Kentucky is enjoying the longest current streak with 45
straight home wins.
Nation's Current Longest Home Win Streaks
Through (Jan. 10)
Kentucky 45
Duke
43
Ohio State 35
Notre Dame 29
North Carolina 28
Purdue 26
Harvard 22
Florida
16
Long Island 16
Oral Roberts 16
Harvard Against the BCS
The Crimson is 3-1 against BCS teams this season after
Utah, then-No. 20 Florida State and Boston College. The Crimson
fell at then-No. 9 UConn, 67-53, Dec. 8.
Harvard owns an 8-9 record against BCS conferences under Tommy
Amaker. The Crimson has defeated BC four times and has also topped
Michigan, Colorado, Utah and Florida State during Amaker's tenure.
The Crimson has also defeated at least one BCS team in each of the
last five seasons.
Night and Day
Harvard owns a 8-2 record in night games and a 6-0 mark
in day contests in 2011-12.
Iron Horse
Oliver McNally has played in 103 games during his Harvard
career. McNally is just 12 games shy of tying Jeremy Lin '10 for
the most games played in Harvard history (115). McNally is
currently tied for 12th in team history with 103 games
played.
Harvard and Amaker Against GW
The Crimson is 2-1 against George Washington under head
coach Tommy Amaker.
Hitting Baskets
Keith Wright stands second in the Ivy League in
field-goal percentage, hitting 59.2 percent of his attempts this
season (77-of-130).
Sold Out Lavietes
Harvard has had three sellout crowds at Lavietes Pavilion
already this season (MIT, Saint Joseph's and Dartmouth). In
addition, the upcoming games against George Washington, Cornell
Columbia, Yale, Princeton and Penn are already sold out. The
Crimson has the opportunity to have 10 of its 12 home games this
season be sold out.
Defense Wins Games
The Crimson enters the week sixth in the country in
scoring defense (55.5 points allowed per game).
Harvard had not allowed more than 49 points in four straight games
(Nov. 24-Dec. 1) for the first time since the 1946-47 season, which
was prior to the invention of the shot clock and the 3-point line.
The Crimson has only surrendered more than 60 points in five of 15
games this year.
On The Big Screen
The Crimson will play at least seven games on national or
regional television this season.
Harvard is 5-1 on TV this year after earning wins over Utah
(HDNet), No. 20/22 Florida State (Versus) and Central Florida
(Versus) at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Crimson also defeated Boston
University (NESN) and Boston College (ESPN3), but fell on the
road at No. 9/9 Connecticut (ESPN2).
Road Warriors
The Crimson, which currently owns a 9-2 record in
road/neutral sites, will play a total of 18 road/neutral games this
winter. Harvard set a program record for road/neutral wins in
2009-10 with 10, and the Crimson followed up with nine road
victories last season. Harvard is 6-2 on the road and 3-0 in
neutral sites in 2011-12.
Kings of Massachusetts' Courts
The Crimson is currently on a 14-game winning streak
against schools from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since
falling to Northeastern in overtime, 76-71, Dec. 10, 2008,
including four straight wins over Holy Cross and Boston College and
three against Boston University.
Harvard is 4-0 this season against Massachusetts teams, having
defeated MIT, Holy Cross, BU and BC.
Head Coach Tommy Amaker
Tommy Amaker (Duke '87) is in his fifth season as head
coach of the Harvard men's basketball team. He registered his 250th
career coaching victory Dec. 4, 2011 against Seattle at Lavietes
Pavilion. Amaker has guided Harvard to its national ranking, as the
Crimson was rated No. 25 in the AP poll and No. 24 in the
ESPN/USA Today coaches ranking Dec. 5, 2011. Amaker also
led the Crimson to its first Ivy League title as well as the
program's first appearance in the NIT. In addition, the Crimson
established a program record with 23 victories in 2010-11.
He brings a 256-192 (.571) career head coaching record into
today's game, including a 80-53 (.602) mark at Harvard, a 108-84
(.563) record at Michigan and a 68-55 (.553) record at Seton
Hall.
Rejection List
With 28 blocks this season, Keith Wright now ranks second
in program history with 134 rejections. Brian Cusworth '07 holds
the Harvard record with 147 career blocks. Wright's 54 blocks last
year also stand second in Harvard history for a single season.
Brian Banks '78 had 59 rejections during the 1977-78
campaign.
Kyle Casey has rejected 74 blocks in his career, including 19 this
season, ranking him seventh in program history in rejections.
Making The Most Of It
Oliver McNally made all eight free throws at Monmouth,
went 7-of-7 at the foul line at Holy Cross and shot 6-of-6 at
Loyola Marymount and is shooting 88.0 percent from the line this
season (44-of-50). Christian
Webster is Harvard's career leader in free-throw shooting,
making 88.8 percent of his attempts (175-of-197) over his first
three seasons, while McNally is fourth in team history at 85.6
percent (250-of-292).
Last season, the Crimson ranked second in the nation as a team
with an 80.8 percent success rate from the charity stripe (just
behind Wisconsin's 81.8 shooting percentage). Harvard owns the NCAA
record for team free-throw percentage for a season (82.2 percent in
1983-84). Harvard is currently shooting 72.8 percent from the line
this season, ranking 52nd in the country.
Deep Bench
Harvard has played at least 10 players in 15 of 16 games
this season, including a season-high 17 players in the win over
Utah Nov. 24.
