The Storyline
The Harvard men’s basketball team will return to the court after a 12-day layoff for final exams when it faces No. 6/5 Virginia Sunday, Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. live on ESPNU.

Sunday’s contest will mark the first of three games Harvard will play against power conference opponents this season. The Crimson is 13-14 against power conference foes under head coach Tommy Amaker, and has defeated at least one power conference opponent each season since Amaker’s arrival. Virginia, currently ranked sixth in the Associated Press Top 25 and fifth in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, is the highest ranked opponent Harvard has faced since taking on No. 4/4 UConn Dec. 21, 2010.

What To Watch For
• Harvard currently ranks 19th in the NCAA in scoring defense (56.1) while Virginia ranks No. 1 (48.1). The Crimson finished last season ranked 14th, allowing 61.0 ppg, with the Cavaliers leading the nation at 55.7 ppg allowed. Harvard has held seven of its first eight opponents this season to 65 points or less and to 40.0 percent shooting or under.

• Harvard boasts a 124-36 (.775) record since 2009-10, good for the 10th highest win percentage in the country in that time (as of games played Dec. 18). This includes a 58-31 record away from Lavietes Pavilion (49-26 road, 9-5 neutral).

• Harvard has won six straight games to improve to 7-1, marking the seventh time under head coach Tommy Amaker that the Crimson has enjoyed a win streak of at least six games. Harvard’s longest win streak under Amaker stands at nine games, a feat which the team has accomplished three times, including twice in 2013-14.

• Wesley Saunders is the only player in the nation currently averaging at least 20 ppg, 7 rpg and 4 apg. He has led Harvard in scoring in each of the team’s eight games, becoming the first member of the Crimson to lead the team in scoring in eight straight games under head coach Tommy Amaker. Saunders has averaged 20.1 ppg during this stretch and has scored at least 24 points four times.

• Harvard is 6-1 this season when Wesley Saunders scores at lesat 15 points, and is 31-8 when he has done so in his career. Harvard is 5-1 this season when Siyani Chambers dishes out at least five assists, and is 33-7 when he does so in his career.

• In eight games, Harvard has had more than two student-athletes score in double-figures only three times. Seven Crimson are averaging at least 5.0 ppg, but only one is averaging double-figures (Wesley Saunders, 20.1).

Last Time Out
The Harvard men’s basketball team used a second-half surge to pull away from Boston University for a 70-56 win Dec. 8 at Lavietes Pavilion.

Wesley Saunders led Harvard in points, rebounds and assists for a second time this season, turning in 15 points, seven boards and a season-high eight helpers. The senior connected on all three of his 3-point attempts and held BU’s Cedric Hankerson, who entered the game averaging 19.9 ppg, to just three points on 0-of-6 shooting.

Corbin Miller contributed 13 points and also hit three 3’s, while Siyani Chambers added 10 points and seven assists.

Starting Fast
Harvard has started 7-1 or better three times under head coach Tommy Amaker, including last season when the Crimson began 13-1.

Creating a Winning Culture
Harvard has posted a 124-37 (.770) overall record since the start of the 2009-10 season, ranking as the 11th highest win percentage in the country over the last five-plus seasons (as of games played Dec. 25).

Home is Where the Wins Are
Harvard has posted a 55-3 (.948) record at Lavietes Pavilion since the start of the 2010-11 season, ranking the Crimson behind only Duke (68-3, .958) and Kentucky (75-4, .949) for the third highest home-court win percentage in the country over the last four-plus seasons (as of games played Dec. 17).

Harvard is 6-0 at home this season and has won eight straight at Lavietes Pavilion dating back to last year. Since 2010-11, the Crimson has enjoyed two home win streaks of at least 20 games; 28 games (Feb. 20, 2010 to Feb. 25, 2012), 20 games (Dec. 1, 2012 to Feb. 7, 2014).

Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Wesley Saunders, the 2014 Ivy League Player of the Year, currently ranks among the Ancient Eight’s top 10 in nine statistcal categories. As a senior, Jeremy Lin ’10 also finished ranked among the conference’s best in nine statistical categories.

Born to Assist
Siyani Chambers, whose 5.8 apg lead the Ivy League, has dished out at least five assists six times this season. Chambers boasts 40 career games with five or more assists, including a stretch of eight straight games as a freshman (Dec. 11, 2012 - Jan. 26, 2013). Harvard is 33-7 in games Chambers reaches five assists.

Grand Theft
Wesley Saunders recorded 12 steals against Northeastern and Vermont, including a career-high seven at Vermont to match Jeremy Lin ‘10 (vs. George Washington, Dec. 30, 2009) for the most steals by a member of the Crimson under head coach Tommy Amaker.

Saunders currently ranks 13th in the NCAA with 2.8 steals per game (as of games played Dec. 16), while his 142 career steals are good for eighth in program history.

Cleaning the Glass
Steve Moundou-Missi recorded a career-high 17 rebounds at Vermont, the most by a member of the Crimson under head coach Tommy Amaker.

Moundou-Missi has led Harvard in rebounding 29 times in his career, and boasts six career games with at least 10 boards, including two this season.

Double-Trouble
Wesley Saunders 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.

Player of the Week
Wesley Saunders was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Dec. 1 after averaging 25.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.5 apg in wins over Houston and UMass.

Saunders has earned a total of nine player of the week awards in his career, tying him with Princeton’s Ian Hummer and Brown’s Earl Hunt for the most in Ivy League history. Saunders garnered the honor five times in 2012-13, three times in 2013-14 and has one award so far in 2014-15.

Watch This
Wesley Saunders was named to the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Lou Henson Award watch lists as one of the elite student-athletes in the country.

Saunders is the first Ivy Leaguer to be included on the Naismith Trophy Top 50, while he joined Jeremy Lin ’10 as the second member of the Crimson to be named to the Wooden Award Watch List. Saunders was also included on the 2013 Lou Henson Award Watch List.

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.

Moving on Up
Head coach Tommy Amaker continus to move up the ranks of the Ivy League’s winningest coaches. Amaker’s 146 wins at Harvard are the eighth 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 146 victories under his belt, Tommy Amaker ranks second all-time in Harvard coaching annals.

Amaker's .668 win percentage (146-72), meanwhile, ranks first among Harvard coaches who have spent at least two seasons at the helm of the team.

Beating The Odds
The Crimson is 4-7 against ranked opponents since 2008-09, marking the only four wins over ranked opponents in program history. The first came at No. 17 Boston College, 82-70, on Jan. 7, 2009 while the last came against No. 15 Cincinnati, 61-57, on March 20, 2014 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Harvard defeated No. 10 New Mexico, 68-62, on March 23, 2013, also in the second round of the NCAA tournament, marking the highest ranked opponent the Crimson has defeated.

Harvard vs. The Power Conferences
Harvard owns a 13-14 record against power conference opponents under Tommy Amaker. The Crimson has defeated Boston College in each of the last six seasons and has also topped California, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida State, Michigan, TCU and Utah during Amaker’s tenure. The Crimson has defeated at least one power conference foe in each season since Amaker’s arrival.