CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard looks to rebound from Wednesday's home loss to Rhode Island on Saturday when it faces another Atlantic 10 foe, UMass, in Amherst. The game is set to air on NESN and ESPN+, beginning at noon ET.

What to Know

- After successfully rallying from a pair of 16-point first-half deficits against Colgate and Northeastern, Harvard could not replicate the effort against Rhode Island. The Crimson faced a halftime deficit of 16 points and found itself trailing by 21 with 16:36 left in the second half. Harvard got to within three points with just under nine minutes to play, but ultimately fell, 64-57.

- Chris Ledlum, the Ivy League Player of the Week, notched his third consecutive double-double with 11 points and a career-high-tying 13 rebounds against the Rams. Over his last three outings, the junior is averaging 14.7 points and 12.3 boards.

- Louis Lesmond led Harvard with 15 points against URI. The first-year connected on a career-high five three-pointers and now has 10 in his last three games (10-23 3FG; .434). A native of France, Lesmond is averaging 12.7 points in his last three outings.

- Noah Kirkwood filled the stat sheet vs. Rhode Island, totaling 11 points, four rebounds, a game-high five assists, one blocked shot and a game-best three steals. The senior has registered a stat in points, rebounds, assists and steals in each of the last five games and in six of the last seven. Over his last seven games, he is averaging 15.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.9 steals.

- Kale Catchings reached double figures in scoring vs. the Rams, recording 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a career-high-tying two treys. The senior has hit the double-digit scoring plateau four times in his last five outings and has averaged 10.6 points on 54.5-percent shooting (7-14 3FG) to go with 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.4 steals during that span.

- Harvard has matched its eight-game start (5-3) from the last time it played in 2019-20. The Crimson finished that season with 21 wins, the fifth-highest total in program history. A win over the Minutemen would give Harvard its best nine-game start since the 2014-15 team opened with a 7-2 mark.

- The Crimson has been resilient when suffering a defeat, posting a 14-2 record in its last 16 games following a loss. Harvard is 2-0 this season under these circumstances and has not dropped consecutive non-conference games since Nov. 29 and Dec. 1, 2019.

- Harvard and UMass are meeting for the fifth time in six seasons, with the one exception being 2020-21 due to the pandemic. The Minutemen lead the all-time series, 16-11, but the Crimson has won three straight and four of seven during the Tommy Amaker era.

- The last time Harvard and UMass met (2019-20), Kirkwood, who was a sophomore, shared game-high honors with then-senior Robert Baker as they each scored 19 points in an 89-55 victory at Lavietes Pavilion. Ledlum, meanwhile, added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds as a first-year player for the Crimson.

- Outside of Harvard's 34-point victory over Massachusetts in 2019-20, the games between the in-state foes have been close. In the Amaker era and prior to the '19-20 outcome, the schools split six meetings with each contest being decided by six points or less. The cumulative score in those six games: UMass 417, Harvard 412.

- Harvard is looking to continue its stellar play against Massachusetts schools. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the Crimson is 8-2 against Bay State programs (45-18 during Amaker era) and is 2-0 this year with victories over MIT and Northeastern.

At the Helm

Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball, is in his 15th season at Harvard. He is the winningest coach in Crimson history with 256 victories and has led the program to seven Ivy League titles and eight postseason appearances.

Up Next

Harvard welcomes Babson to Lavietes Pavilion on Monday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+.