CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University men's basketball travels to play at Rice University in Houston, Texas on Friday, Nov. 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT (ESPN+) at Tudor Fieldhouse as the Crimson competes in its first road game of the season coming off a 78-50 victory over UMass Boston in its season opener.

What to Know

• Harvard leads the all-time series with Rice, 3-1. The Crimson and Owls have competed in two home-and-home series in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons as well as the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
• In the Crimson's season opener, first-year Thomas Batties II led four Crimson in double figures with 16 points, senior Justice Ajogbor posted his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Harvard beat UMass Boston (Nov. 6), 78-50, in its home opener at Lavietes Pavilion.
• Harvard's first-year class made a major contribution against UMass Boston (Nov. 6) in the season opener, combining for 42 points on 17-of-31 shooting (54.8 percent) as well as 14 points and eight assists. Thomas Batties II (16 points, 7-of-11 field goals, five rebounds), Malik Mack (13 points, five rebounds), Luca Ace-Nasteski (11 points, 4-of-7 field goals), and Xavier Nesbitt (two assists) all contributed to the effort.
• Senior forward Justice Ajogbor posted his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against UMass Boston (Nov. 6). Last season he ranked third in the Ivy League with 1.4 blocks per game and added 6.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.9 percent from the field. In Ivy play, he ranked fourth in the conference in blocks per game (1.4) and third in field goal percentage (.603), while registering 7.1 points and 3.4 boards per game. He tallied multiple blocks in each of 13 games on the season. In the NCAA rankings, he stood 78^th in blocks per game (1.39).
• Sophomore forward Chisom Okpara averaged 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season, scoring in double figures nine times. In Ivy only play, he shot 54.1 percent from the field. He dropped a career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 field goals with eight rebounds vs. Siena (Nov. 20). Okpara gained Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times (Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 26, Feb. 20) as a first-year last season.
• The Crimson brings back several other veterans in the backcourt including juniors Louis Lesmond, Denham Wojcik, and Tyler Simon and sophomore Chandler Piggé. Lesmond scored nine points on three 3-pointers vs. UMass Boston (Nov. 6) and averaged 7.9 points per game in 2021-22 before missing most of the 2022-23 season due to injury while Wojcik scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting with four assists against UMass Boston (Nov. 6) after playing in 41 games over his first two seasons. Piggé and Simon played in 18 and 16 games respectively last season.
• Harvard returns another pair of student-athletes in the frontcourt in senior forward Josh Hemmings and sophomore center Matt Filipowski. Hemmings played in 23 games last season while Filipowski missed much of 2022-23 due to injury.
• The Crimson welcomes five first-years to the program in the Class of 2027. The group includes guard Malik Mack – the 2022-23 Gatorade Player of the Year for Washington, D.C. – forward Thomas Batties II, and forward Luca Ace-Nasteski as well as guards Xavier Nesbitt and Payton Pitts.
• Harvard held its annual Crimson Madness preseason event on Friday, Oct. 13 as the unofficial tip-off to its 2023-24 season. Throughout the evening, fans enjoyed their first opportunity to catch a glimpse of the 2023-24 edition of Harvard basketball. The event began with a pre-party on the Lavietes Lawn for Harvard undergraduate students before team introductions. From there, the night included a skills challenge, a 3-point contest, team scrimmages, and a post-event autograph session.
• In August, Harvard announced that the Crimson's men's basketball locker room will be renamed in honor of Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball, following his eventual retirement thanks to a generous donation from the Shutzer family in a first-of-its-kind honor at Harvard and across the Ivy League. Amaker will be the first Black coach in Harvard history – and in the Ivy League – to inspire such a naming gift.
• The Crimson tipped off the 17^th year of The Breakfast Club in September with featured guests at the group's first meeting of the year including NBA great Doc Rivers, former Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu '07, JD '12, and Massachusetts Governor and Harvard women's basketball alumna Maura Healy '92.
• Prior to the 2023-24 academic year the Harvard community lost a giant in the passing of Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, one of the co-founders of The Breakfast Club when head coach Tommy Amaker arrived at Harvard.

Next Up

Harvard hosts Northeastern on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) before playing back-to-back games at Massachusetts on Nov. 17 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+/NESN+) and at Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+/ACCNX).