The Storyline
The Harvard men’s basketball team will play its third straight home game as it hosts UMass Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. in Lavietes Pavilion. The game will be played in front of a sold-out crowd and will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the Ivy League Digital Network.

Last Time Out
Wesley Saunders and Steve Moundou-Missi each recorded a double-double to lead the Harvard men’s basketball team past Houston Tuesday night at Lavietes Pavilion, 84-63.

Saunders’ double-double was his third in four games as he contributed a game-high 24 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. This marks the fourth straight game he has led Harvard in scoring, becoming the first member of the Crimson to do so since Jeremy Lin ‘10 did it in five straight games in 2009-10. Moundou-Missi, meanwhile, turned in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed a career-high 14 boards.

Siyani Chambers and Corbin Miller each added 12 points, with Chambers also dishing out five assists and Miller going 4-of-6 from beyond-the-arc. Harvard finished the game shooting 52.8 percent (28-53) from the floor, was 22-of-26 at the line and outrebounded Houston by a 43-32 spread.

What To Watch For
• Harvard has held each its first four opponents to fewer than 65 points and under 40.0 percent shooting. Under head coach Tommy Amaker, the program’s longest streak of allowing fewer than 65 points stands at 10 games set during the 2011-12 season. The record for longest streak of limiting opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting stands at five games and was done in both 2009-10 and 2011-12.

• Wesley Saunders has led Harvard in scoring in each of the team’s four games, marking the first time a member of the Crimson has led the team in scoring in four straight games since Jeremy Lin ‘10 did it in five straight in 2009-10.

• Wesley Saunders has recorded three double-doubles in the team’s first four games, becoming the first member of the Crimson to post three double-doubles in a four-game stretch since Keith Wright ‘12 did it in four consecutive games in 2011-12.

• Harvard is 3-1 this season when Wesley Saunders scores at lesat 15 points, and is 28-8 when he has done so in his career. Harvard is 2-1 this season when Siyani Chambers dishes out at least five assists, and is 30-7 when he does so in his career.

• With his next victory, head coach Tommy Amaker will move into a tie for second place on Harvard’s career wins list with Floyd S. Wilson who coached the Crimson to 143 wins from 1954-68.

Wooden Award
Wesley Saunders was named to the Wooden Award Watch List as one of the 50 leading candidates for the 2015 John R. Wooden Award Presented by Wendy’s. Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is presented annually to the nation’s best player.

Saunders joins Jeremy Lin ’10 as the second member of the Crimson to be named to the Wooden Award Watch List. Lin was among the final 20 nominees for the award in 2009-10.

Lou Henson All-America
Wesley Saunders was named to the Lou Henson Preseason All-America team for the second year in a row and is among 40 student-athletes included on the award’s watch list. The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the Division I “Mid-Major” Player of the Year.

Saunders was named to the 2014 Lou Henson All-America team last year as one of the 30 best players from a mid-major conference.

Cousy Award
Siyani Chambers was named to the 2015 Bob Cousy Award Watch List, marking the third-straight year that the junior has been tabbed among the top point guards in college basketball. Chambers is one of just three individuals to have been included on the watch list in each of the last three years along with Duke’s Quinn Cook and Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos.

Last year, Chambers was one of 23 Cousy Award Watch List finalists after being among the original list of 80 watch list candidates along with teammate Brandyn Curry ’13-14.

In the Polls
Harvard was ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25, marking the first time Harvard has appeared in the AP’s preseason poll and the first time an Ivy League program has been included since the 1974-75 season.

Harvard also received 47 points in the USA TODAY Preseason Coaches Poll, ranking first among those schools listed in the “also receiving votes” category and coming in just nine points shy of a place in the top 25. This marked the first time since the 1993-94 season that an Ivy program has been at the head of the “also receiving votes” category in the preseason poll.

Home is Where the Wins Are
Harvard has posted a 52-3 (.945) record at Lavietes Pavilion since the start of the 2010-11 season, ranking the Crimson behind only Belmont (54-2, .964), Duke (66-3, .957) and Kentucky (70-4, .946) for the fourth highest home-court win percentage in the country over the last four seasons (as of games played Nov. 27).

Harvard has enjoyed two home win streaks of at least 20 games during this run; 28 games (Feb. 20, 2010 to Feb. 25, 2012), 20 games (Dec. 1, 2012 to Feb. 7, 2014).

Chasing History
• Harvard has won at least 20 games in each of the last five years, and a sixth consecutive 20-win campaign in 2014-15 would match Penn (1969-75) for the longest streak of 20-win seasons in Ivy League history.

• The Crimson has won four straight Ivy League championships and is looking to become the first Ancient Eight program to win five-straight titles since the Quakers did so between 1978 and 1982. The only other streak of at least five-consecutive titles in Ancient Eight history is Penn’s run of six straight from 1970-75.

• The Crimson has made three-straight NCAA tournament appearances and in 2014-15 will attempt to become the first Ivy League squad to reach the Big Dance in four-straight years since Princeton did so from 1989-92. Penn owns the conference record with six-straight NCAA tournament appearances from 1970-75.

• Harvard has won its NCAA tournament second round matchup each of the last two years, becoming the first Ivy League team to win a game in the tournament in consecutive years since Princeton did so in 1983 and 1984. Should the Crimson reach the ‘Big Dance’ again in 2015, it could match Penn (1971-73, 1978-80) and Princeton (1964-67) for most consecutive years with a victory in the NCAA tournament.

2013-14 Rewind
• Harvard advanced to the third round of the 2014 NCAA tournament with a 61-57 win over fifth-seeded Cincinnati. The victory was the Crimson’s second in as many years in the Big Dance, and marked the first time an Ivy League program has won at least one tournament game in back-to-back seasons since Princeton did so in 1983 and 1984.

• Harvard became the first program to win four-straight Ivy League championships since Penn did so from 1993-96, and became the first Ivy League program to reach 20 wins in five-straight seasons since Penn did so a record six times from 1970-75.

• Harvard set a new school record for most wins in a season with a 27-5 overall mark. The Crimson also set a program record for Ivy League victories by finishing the “14-Game Tournament” with a 13-1 mark, and completed the program’s first undefeated season on the road in Ancient Eight play.

• Wesley Saunders was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, becoming just the third member of the Crimson to earn the honor; Joe Carrabino ’84-85 (1984), Keith Wright ’12 (2011).

All-District
Wesley Saunders was named to the United States Basketball Wristers Association All-District I Team and to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 13 first team, marking the second-straight year he has picked up both awards.

Siyani Chambers was also recognized by the NABC, earning second team honors after being picked to the first team a year ago.

All-Ivy
Harvard received six total All-Ivy League selections in 2014, matching the 1994-95 Penn team for the most in Ivy League history; Wesley Saunders (POY, first team), Siyani Chambers (second team), Steve Moundou-Missi (second team), Laurent Rivard (second team), Kyle Casey (HM) and Brandyn Curry (HM).

Making a Stand
Harvard’s defense in 2013-14 shaped up to be one of the best ever under head coach Tommy Amaker. Opponents scored just 61.0 ppg, which ranked 14th in the NCAA and was the second best in the Amaker era, while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from beyond-the-arc, both the lowest totals under Amaker.

• The Crimson held Princeton, Cornell and Columbia to just 47 points in consecutive games, marking the first time since 2011-12 that Harvard had allowed less than 50 points in three-straight games.

• Harvard went 15-0 when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points, and 14-0 when opponents shoot under 40.0 percent.

• Harvard held TCU (25.0%, 14-56), Brown (27.3%, 15-55) and MIT (27.9%, 12-43) to under 30.0 percent shooting, the three lowest opponent shooting percentages under head coach Tommy Amaker.

• The Crimson allowed just 37 points to MIT,  marking the third time under head coach Tommy Amaker that an opponent has scored fewer than 40 points (most recent at Yale, 65-35, 1/27/12).

Margin of Victory
Under head coach Tommy Amaker, the Crimson has won 38 games by 20 or more points, 10 games by 30 or more points and two games by 40 or more.

• The 2013-14 Crimson set the standard for margin of victory, outscoring opponents by 12.2 ppg while winning nine games by 20 points, five games by 30 and one game by 40.

• Harvard’s scoring margin against the Ivy League last season was +15.4 ppg. The team won six Ivy League contests by at least 20 points and three games by at least 30.

• Harvard picked up lopsided victories versus MIT (79-37, Nov. 12) and Howard (76-44, Nov. 15), marking the first time under head coach Tommy Amaker that the Crimson had won back-to-back games by 30-plus points.

• Harvard’s 42-point margin of victory against MIT on Nov. 12 was the second largest under head coach Tommy Amaker, behind only a 94-51 triumph against Daniel Webster on Dec. 28, 2008.

Players of the Week
Wesley Saunders (Dec. 3, Dec. 9, Jan. 6), Siyani Chambers (Dec. 23, Dec. 30, Feb. 24) and Steve Moundou-Missi (March 10) combined to earn seven Ivy League Player of the Week awards last season, matching the program record for most awards in one year.

Saunders’ eight career player of the week honors rank third in league history, trailing only Princeton’s Ian Hummer and Brown’s Earl Hunt who own the all-time mark with nine. Saunders’ most recent accolade  also tied him with Kyle Snowden ’97 for the most by a member of the Crimson.

Chambers’ three honors give him nine career weekly awards after having been named the conference’s rookie of the week six times in 2012-13.
Moundou-Missi’s player of the week award was the first of his career. He was also named rookie of the week once in 2011-12.

Moving on Up
Head coach Tommy Amaker continus to move up the ranks of the Ivy League’s winningest coaches. Amaker’s 142 wins at Harvard are the 10th most since the conference began competition in 1956, while his 67 Ivy League victories rank 14th.

Amaker has led Harvard to four-straight Ivy League championships, tying him with former Princeton head coach Butch van Breda Kolff and fomer Penn head coach Chuck Daly for the fourth most Ivy titles won.

On The Sidelines
With 142 victories under his belt, Tommy Amaker ranks third all-time in Harvard coaching annals.

Amaker's .666 win percentage (142-72), meanwhile, ranks first among Harvard coaches who have spent at least two seasons at the helm of the team.