AMHERST, Mass. – The Harvard men's basketball team fell to in-state foe Massachusetts, 87-77, in a Saturday afternoon contest at Mullins Center. The Crimson, which was plus-11 in the turnover department, but minus-13 in free-throws attempted, fell to 5-4 on the season. The Minutemen, meanwhile, improved to 6-3.
 
Harvard came out firing, knocking down seven treys and receiving 10 points from Idan Tretout to help it jump out to a 33-16 lead with just over eight minutes left in the first half. The hosts, however, used a combination of threes (6-9) and free throws (10-10) to get back into the game, eventually heading into the locker room ahead, 43-42.
 
The Crimson took a brief 50-48 lead in the opening minutes of the second half and stayed within striking distance, never trailing by more than five once UMass moved ahead on the scoreboard. A Luka Sakota three-pointer got Harvard to within two, at 58-56, with 13:46 to go, but C.J. Kelly answered with a trey of his own on the other end.
 
Harvard pulled even at 65 with just under 10 minutes to play, but C.J. Kelly converted a three-point play, Rich Kelly nailed a trey and C.J. Kelly connected on a field goal attempt in the paint, to push UMass to a 73-65 advantage. The Crimson never got closer than four points the rest of the way as the Minuteman emerged with the double-digit victory.

Harvard Highlights

• Noah Kirkwood posted his team-leading ninth double-digit scoring effort of the season and the 45^th of his career, finishing with 16 points. The senior also had a season-high six assists and two steals (fifth straight multi-steal game).
• Chris Ledlum scored in double figures for the sixth straight game and eighth time this season. The junior finished with 20 points, his third 20-point performance of the year, while grabbing a team-high six rebounds.
• Idan Tretout scored a career-high 14 points and reached double figures in scoring for the third time this season (5^th career). The junior matched his career high with five rebounds.
• Luka Sakota scored at least 10 points for the sixth time in 2020-21, recording 15. The junior made three treys and has made at least one three-pointer in eight consecutive outings.
• First-year Louis Lesmond made his first career start in his seventh appearance of the season. He finished with nine points in a career-high 36 minutes.

Game Notes

• The Crimson suffered back-to-back non-conference losses for the first time since Nov. 29 and Dec. 1, 2019.
• Harvard made 11 three-pointers, marking the fourth time in six games it has made at least 10.
• The Crimson won the turnover battle, 17-6, but was on the short end of free throws attempted. Harvard was 2-of-5 from the line, while UMass made 16 of its 18 attempts.
• Harvard fell to 8-3 vs. Bay State programs since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

What's Next?

Harvard returns home to play host to Babson on Monday in a game that will air on ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets for the contest are available at tickets.gocrimson.com.