CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard is set to close out its regular season on Saturday when it welcomes Dartmouth to Lavietes Pavilion. The Senior Day affair is set for 2 p.m. ET, with the Crimson honoring its senior class prior to tip-off.
What to Know
- Set to play their final regular-season home game on Saturday are
Kale Catchings,
Mason Forbes,
Spencer Freedman and
Noah Kirkwood. The quartet won 53 games in three competition years, claimed an Ivy League title and won Harvard's first NIT game during the 2018-19 campaign. The postseason victory was the program's first since 2014.
- Harvard will look to extend its run of success on Senior Day as it has won its last eight regular-season home finales. In fact, under The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball, Tommy Amaker, the Crimson have dropped just two "Senior Day" games (2007-08, 2011-12) and boast a record of 11-2 when honoring its senior class.
- The Crimson is looking to rebound from a tough 74-73 home loss to Princeton last Sunday. Harvard shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the second half and outrebounded the Tigers for the game, 35-30, but was unable to emerge victorious. Despite the loss, Harvard enters the Dartmouth game having won two of its last three games at Lavietes Pavilion.
- Four players scored in double figures for the second straight game with Evan Nelson and Luka Sakota leading the way with 14 points apiece against the Tigers. For Sakota, it marked his fifth straight double-digit scoring game, matching his career long. As for Nelson, it was his third double-figure scoring effort in his last five outings.
- During Sakota's five-game double-digit scoring streak, the junior is averaging 14.0 points, while also grabbing 5.0 rebounds to go with 1.8 assists and 2.0 steals.
- Noah Kirkwood scored 12 points against Princeton in 24 minutes and is now up to 1,101 points for his career. He currently ranks 25th in school history and is three points shy of tying Mike Gielen '89 (1,104) for 24th place and 16 short of matching Jim Goffredo '07 (1,117) for 23rd.
- Kale Catchings scored 11 points vs. Princeton to record his season-long third straight double-digit scoring performance. In his two games last week vs. the Tigers, he averaged 15.0 points, after scoring a career-high 19 in the road game in The Garden State last Friday. Over his last three games, he is averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 blocked shots in 30.7 minutes.
- Mason Forbes led the team with seven rebounds against Princeton, while also contributing eight points, three rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal in a team-high 32 minutes. Including a 28-minute appearance at Brown on Feb. 4, the senior has averaged 29.9 minutes and has logged no fewer than 25 minutes in any game during that span.
- In Forbes' last five games, he has pulled down 6.8 rebounds per outing. On the offensive side, the senior has recorded at least three offensive boards in his last six games (3.8).
- Harvard is looking to sweep Dartmouth for the second straight competition season after doing so in 2019-20. The Crimson has won four straight vs. the Big Green and eight of the last nine match-ups.
- The last four meetings with Dartmouth have been close ballgames. In those four Harvard victories, the Crimson have won by an average of 3.8 points (15 total points), including January's one-point decision in Hanover, New Hampshire.
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 264 victories and has led the program to seven Ivy League titles and eight postseason appearances.
