CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior guard
Tyler Simon scored a team and career-high 13 points, but Harvard University men's basketball fell to Princeton University, 66-53, on Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion.
Opening its final home weekend of the regular season, the Crimson (13-10, 4-6 Ivy) remained within 34-31 with 3:26 to go in the first half before the Tigers (20-3, 8-2 Ivy) took a 43-31 lead at halftime and maintained a double-digit margin in the second half.
Simon led the Crimson in scoring for the first time in his career with his 13 points and added a career-best seven rebounds. First-year guard
Malik Mack grabbed a career and team-high eight rebounds with nine points, sophomore forward
Chisom Okpara chipped in nine points, and senior forward
Justice Ajogbor tallied a game-high four blocks.
Harvard played in front of a capacity crowd of 1,636 fans at Lavietes Pavilion for the fourth time in its last five home games.
Harvard Highlights
- Junior guard Tyler Simon scored a team and career-high 13 points on 4-of-7 field goals, 2-of-4 3-pointers, and 3-of-4 free throws, while grabbing a career-best seven rebounds. He scored in double figures for the second time this season and led the Crimson in scoring for the first time.
- First-year guard Malik Mack tallied nine points, a career and team-high eight rebounds, and three assists while sophomore forward Chisom Okpara posted nine points, four rebounds, and three assists.
- Senior forward Justice Ajogbor added seven points and a game-high four blocks. He posted three or more blocks in a game for the ninth time this season and for the third straight game.
- Junior guard Louis Lesmond netted seven points, and first-year forward Luca Ace-Nasteski chipped in six points and five rebounds.
- Harvard held a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint.
Gallery: (2-23-2024) Men's Basketball vs. Princeton
How It Happened
- After Princeton opened the game with a 20-11 lead at the 12:36 mark of the first half, the Crimson countered with a 10-2 run to pull within 22-21 with 8:24 left in the first half. Mack scored two layups while Okpara and Simon each hit 3-pointers.
- Harvard remained within one possession at 34-31 with 3:26 to go until halftime prior to Princeton closing the half on a 9-0 run to take a 43-31 edge at the break.
- A pair of dunks from Ajogbor kept the Crimson within 47-37 with 15:43 remaining, but the visitors extended the margin to 61-42 with 9:49 to play behind a 14-5 stretch.
- A 9-0 run from the Crimson trimmed the deficit back to 61-51 with 4:27 on the clock as Lesmond scored five points before Simon and Ace-Nasteski each hit two free throws, but the Crimson could pull no closer inside of the final four minutes.
Postgame Quotes
- "Certainly, in the first half their shooting – they were being very precise with their shots. Then our second half was very poor with our shooting. It was very tough for us to make the move we needed to make." – Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
Next Up
Harvard hosts Penn tomorrow – Saturday, Feb. 24 – at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) in its final home game of the regular season at Lavietes Pavilion.
