CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard will play its second game in three days on Sunday when it welcomes Yale to Lavietes Pavilion. The game is set for a 2 p.m. ET start on ESPNU.
What to Know
- After going 16 days without a game, the Crimson returned to action on Friday night and fell in its Ivy League opener to Brown, 84-73.
- The Crimson had four players score in double figures and enjoyed advantages in rebounds (42-36), turnovers (7-9), steals (5-4) and points in the paint (30-15), but could not overcome Brown's 50.9-percent shooting or its accuracy from three (15-26, .577).
- Noah Kirkwood led Harvard with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists against the Bears. The do-it-all senior has led the team in either points, rebounds or assists in all but two games this season (vs. MIT, at Siena) and has scored in double figures in all 13 games.
- Kirkwood, who is averaging 16.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.6 steals, is one of two players (MJ Randolph, Florida A&M) in Division I to average at least 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals (through Jan. 7), according to College Basketball Reference.
- Chris Ledlum registered 17 points and eight rebounds against Brown, marking the 11th time in 13 games that he has led the team in rebounding (solo or shared). The Ivy League rebounding leader is one of three players in the country (through Jan. 7) averaging at least 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 steals, according to College Basketball Reference. Ledlum, (16.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.7 spg), is joined by Dereon Seabron (NC State) and Utah State's Justin Bean.
- Idan Tretout posted his fourth double-figure scoring game in his last five outings, recording 14 against Brown. In his last five games, the junior guard is averaging 12.6 points to go with 1.6 assists.
- Louis Lesmond provided a spark off the bench vs. Brown with 13 points and a career-high six rebounds in 27 minutes. The first-year knocked in four treys, marking his sixth game with multiple three-pointers. Lesmond has 22 threes on the season, just one behind team leader Luka Sakota.
- After missing the first 12 games of the season, senior co-captain Mason Forbes returned to the hardwood against Brown and logged 10 minutes. The 6-9 forward had one point and three rebounds (two offensive), and entered the campaign as the team's most experienced frontcourt player with 49 career games.
- Harvard has been a resilient group over the last few seasons, posting a 15-3 record in the game following its last 18 defeats. This season alone, the Crimson is 3-1 in responding to losses. Harvard has not suffered a three-game losing streak since 2017-18.
- Harvard enters the Yale game with only one day of preparation, something that has been a familiar theme for the Crimson in '21-22. This will mark the fifth time Harvard has played under these circumstances, with the Crimson going 3-1 in the previous occasions. The Crimson has four more sets of games this season where it will have zero or one day of prep, with the next one slated for Jan. 15 (at Columbia) and Jan. 17 (at Dartmouth).
- Harvard is looking to extend an eight-game regular-season winning streak vs. Yale. The Crimson has not lost an Ivy League game to the Bulldogs since Feb. 26, 2016, in New Haven, Connecticut.
- The Harvard-Yale match-up features the two teams that finished atop the Ivy League preseason poll. The Bulldogs were the favorite with 115 points and seven first-place votes. The Crimson, meanwhile, earned 110 points and four first-place considerations.
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 259 victories and has led the program to seven Ivy League titles and eight postseason appearances.
Up Next
Harvard hits the road for its next game, at Columbia, on Saturday, Jan. 15. Tip is set for 2 p.m. ET and the contest will air on ESPN+.
