NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Harvard will be in search of a sweep in its first back-to-back of the season on Saturday night when it faces Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. The Crimson took down Brown on Friday in Providence, Rhode Island.
What to Know
- Harvard stopped a two-game skid and prevented its first three-game losing streak since 2017-18 by defeating the Bears, 65-50, at Pizzitola Sports Center. The Crimson jumped out to a 19-2 lead and enjoyed a 29-8 advantage at halftime. In the first 20 minutes, Harvard limited Brown to 3-for-25 shooting (0-10 3FG), including an 0-for-18 stretch, and went 17 minutes, 29 seconds between its first and second field goals.
- Other notables from the Brown game include Harvard scoring 34 of its 65 points in the paint (52.3 percent), the Crimson improving to 6-0 this season when holding its opponent to 50-59 points, and Harvard upping its season record to 7-2 when outrebounding its foe (37-31). The eight first-half points allowed, meanwhile, was tied for the lowest in any half in a game featuring two Division I teams in 2021-22. Navy enjoyed a 27-8 halftime lead over Radford on Nov. 20.
- Four Crimson players scored in double figures at Brown, led by Luka Sakota's game-high 18 points. The junior has scored 18 points in two straight games and in three of his last last five outings (14.0 ppg). Sakota, who tied his career high with four treys and seven rebounds, enters the Yale contest having made 10 of his last 20 attempts (.500) from three.
- Kale Catchings turned in 14 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds against Brown, falling one stat short of matching his season best in each category. The senior was a perfect 4-for-4 from two-point range (6-for-6 in his last two games) and enters Saturday night having scored in double figures in two consecutive outings (12.0 ppg).
- Noah Kirkwood has reached double figures in scoring in every game this season, finishing with 11 against the Bears. The senior also shared game-high honors with Sakota as the duo had four assists apiece. Kirkwood is inching closer to the 1,000-point mark for his career and comes into the Yale game with 977.
- Mason Forbes, who is spending his birthday in New Haven, started his second straight game and turned in his most complete performance of the campaign, albeit in his third game of 2021-22. The senior co-captain had season highs in points (11) and rebounds (4), while playing a career-high 28 minutes.
- Harvard enters the Yale game with just a handful of hours of prep time, something that has been a familiar theme for the Crimson in '21-22. This will mark the sixth time this season in which Harvard has enjoyed zero or one day of preparation, with the Crimson going 4-1 in the previous occasions. Harvard has two more sets of games where it will have zero or one day of prep, with the next one slated for Feb. 18-19 (vs. Columbia and Cornell).
- Harvard comes into its rivalry matchup with the Bulldogs having won eight straight regular-season meetings. The last time these teams met at John J. Lee Amphitheater, Harvard emerged with a 78-77 decision during the 2019-20 campaign. The Crimson later swept the season series a month later in the regular-season finale at Lavietes Pavilion, 83-69.
- Harvard is looking to sweep the Brown-Yale trip for the first time since 2017-18. That season, the Crimson won at Yale, 54-52, on Jan. 26, 2018, before finishing road swing with an 86-77 victory at Brown the next day.
- Harvard and Yale will meet again in four days, when the Bulldogs travel to Cambridge for a mid-week matchup. The Feb. 9 date is the rescheduled contest from Jan. 9, which was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns within the Yale program.
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 262 victories and has led the program to seven Ivy League titles and eight postseason appearances.
Up Next
Harvard will face Yale on Wednesday night at Lavietes Pavilion. The game is set for a 7 p.m. ET start and will air on ESPN+. Tickets are available at tickets.gocrimson.com.
