CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard plays host to Howard on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+) to put the finishing touches on a three-game homestand and before breaking for the holiday season. The contest marks the Crimson's second against an HBCU in 2021-22 after it played host to Morehouse in the season opener.
What to Know
- Harvard is set to play its final non-conference home game of the season and is 6-1 at Lavietes Pavilion after defeating Holy Cross, 62-54, on Sunday. After a brief trip to nationally ranked Kansas on Dec. 29, the Crimson will return home to play three straight against Ivy League competition.
- The Crimson, which trailed Holy Cross by three points with 5:19 left in the first half, used a 13-2 half-ending run that proved to be the difference after the teams both scored 30 points in the final 20 minutes.
- Chris Ledlum led Harvard against Holy Cross with a game-high-tying 17 points and 11 rebounds (fifth double-double of '21-22). Six of his boards were of the offensive variety, which tied for his second most of the campaign (8 vs. Rhode Island).
- Noah Kirkwood battled foul trouble vs. the Crusaders to produce 11 points, five rebounds and a team-high-matching two assists in 20 minutes. Of his five boards, four came off the offensive glass as he and Ledlum combined to grab half of Harvard's 20 offensive rebounds.
- Harvard's 20 offensive rebounds vs. Holy Cross helped lead to 22 second-chance points, which tied for the seventh most in the Tommy Amaker era (since start of 2007-08).
- Outside of Ledlum and Kirkwood, Harvard exhibited scoring balance through other parts of the roster as four players scored at least seven points. Kale Catchings and Idan Tretout each scored nine points, while Luka Sakota and Sam Silverstein chipped in seven. Catchings (5), Tretout (4) and Silverstein (4) were responsible for all 13 of Harvard's points during the aforementioned 13-2 run to end the first half vs. Holy Cross.
- Silverstein was a key contributor off the bench vs. Holy Cross as the sophomore added six rebounds and one assist to go with his seven points in 22 minutes of action. In his last two games, he is averaging 6.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 24.5 minutes.
- Harvard enters the Howard game with only one day of preparation, something that has been a familiar theme for the Crimson in '21-22. This will mark the fourth time Harvard has played under these circumstances, with the Crimson going 2-1 in the previous occasions. Harvard defeated MIT on Nov. 20, only to fall at Siena on Nov. 22, and then rebounded on Nov. 24 to beat Colgate. The next month, Harvard lost at UMass on Dec. 4, and then bounced back with a win over Babson on Dec. 6. The Crimson have four more sets of games this season where it will have zero or one day of prep, with the next one slated for Jan. 7 (vs. Brown) and Jan. 9 (vs. Yale).
- Harvard and Howard, led by former Crimson assistant coach Kenneth Blakeney (2007-11), are meeting for the sixth time in series history with the Crimson taking the previous five matchups. The schools have faced each other five of the last eight seasons.
- Harvard is 2-0 vs. Howard in games played at Lavietes Pavilion. This season's tilt will be the first meeting in Cambridge since a 67-46 Crimson victory in 2016-17. The other series matchup at Harvard occurred during the '13-14 campaign, a 76-44 Harvard win.
- The Crimson last saw the Bison in '19-20, when it earned a 60-55 victory in Washington, D.C. Six current Harvard players saw action in that game (Kale Catchings, Mason Forbes, Noah Kirkwood, Chris Ledlum, Luka Sakota, Idan Tretout) with Forbes leading the way (13 points, 4 blocked shots, 18 minutes).
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 258 victories and has led the program to seven Ivy League titles and eight postseason appearances.
Up Next
Harvard will travel to Kansas for a Dec. 29 contest vs. the Jayhawks. The non-conference finale is slated for a 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET start on Big 12 Now | ESPN+.
