CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sophomore forward
Thomas Batties II scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws as Harvard Men's Basketball beat Columbia University, 87-75, on Saturday night at Lavietes Pavilion completing a weekend sweep after the Crimson topped Cornell, 75-73, on Friday night.
Closing out its first home back-to-back of the season, the Crimson (9-13, 4-5 Ivy) held a 44-32 lead at halftime and gained an advantage as large as 17 points on its way to the victory over the visiting Lions (12-10, 1-8 Ivy). Harvard swept the season series from Columbia, 2-0, after the Crimson defeated the Lions, 90-82, on Jan. 31 in New York City.
One night after scoring a career-high 21 points, Batties II eclipsed that mark with his career-high 31 points to average 26.0 points per game on the weekend behind 21-of-29 shooting (72.4 percent) over the two games. In Saturday night's win over Columbia, senior guard
Louis Lesmond (career-high 17 points), senior guard
Evan Nelson (12 points), and first-year guard
Robert Hinton (11 points) joined him in double figures as the Crimson shot 59.6 percent from the floor (31-of-52) and a season-best 55.0 percent from 3-point distance (11-of-20).
With the weekend sweep, fifth-place Harvard moved within one game of fourth place – and the final spot in the Ivy League Tournament – in the conference standings.
Harvard Highlights
- Sophomore forward Thomas Batties II poured in a career-high 31 points on 12-of-15 field goals, 4-of-6 3-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws, while posting a game-high seven rebounds, three assists, and a game-best three blocks. He netted his 31 points just one night after scoring a then career-best 21 points against Cornell. Batties II eclipsed 30 points for the first time in his career and hit double-figure field goals for the first time.
- Batties II scored in double figures for the 12th time this season and went over 20 points for the second time. He led the Crimson in scoring for the fifth time this year and paced Harvard in rebounding for the sixth time. For the weekend, he averaged 26.0 points per game on 21-of-29 shooting from the field (72.4 percent).
- Senior guard Louis Lesmond matched his career high with 17 points, connecting on 5-of-9 field goals, a season-high 4-of-7 3-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws alongside five rebounds and career-high four assists. He scored in double figures for the eighth time this year.
- Senior guard Evan Nelson scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 2-of-4 triples, while tying his season high with a game-best six assists and adding four rebounds. He finished in double figures for the ninth time this season and led the Crimson in assists for the 10th time this year.
- First-year guard Robert Hinton netted 11 points, made 5-of-5 free throws, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out three assists. He scored in double figures for the 15th time this season.
- Junior guard Chandler Piggé chipped in eight points, three boards, and three assists, and first-year guard Austin Hunt tacked on six points, six boards, and three assists.
- Harvard tallied four double-figure scorers for the 12th time this season and for the sixth time in nine Ivy League games.
- The Crimson shot a season-best 55.0 percent from 3-point distance, making 11-of-20 shots from behind the arc. Harvard hit double-figure triples for the third time this season.
- Harvard dished out a season-best 23 assists with six different student-athletes contributing at least three assists.
- Harvard shot 59.6 percent from the floor (31-of-52) marking its best field goal percentage in Ivy League play.
Gallery: (2-15-2025) Men's Basketball vs. Columbia
How It Happened
- Batties II hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening four minutes before Nelson netted seven straight points to put Harvard ahead 19-13 at the 12:35 mark of the first half.
- A pair of 3-pointers from Lesmond helped the Crimson push the lead out to double digits at 32-20 with 6:16 left in the opening half.
- Inside of the final four minutes of the first half, Batties II and Nelson each hit 3-pointers to allow Harvard to maintain a 44-32 lead at halftime.
- Lesmond hit two more 3-pointers in the first 2:17 of the second half, and Batties II later scored five straight points to keep Harvard ahead 64-48 with 14:04 to play.
- An old-fashioned 3-point play from Batties II extended the advantage to 17 points – the Crimson's largest of the game – at 69-52 with 11:36 remaining.
- Harvard maintained at least an 11-point advantage over the remainder of the game, including making 9-of-10 free throws inside of the final 5:18.
Postgame Quotes
"What a tremendous weekend here for us, especially to do it here at home, obviously for these guys to build some confidence. Getting out of the blocks and playing from ahead a lot is fun to do." –
Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
"What a game from Thomas. That was a career game for him. Just so efficient and productive in every different way. Just so proud of him. So proud of his growing and developing. You see his confidence growing. You love to see that as a coach and a teacher when kids are getting confident. This has been a big confidence booster for us this weekend – for all of our kids but for Thomas in particular. Just a tremendous job by him." – Coach Amaker
"My coach lit a fire under me. It's just trusting my teammates. It's really the same formula that worked last night, I just happened to have more points today. I'm always going to trust my game. Everybody that is behind me tells me to do the same – have confidence. That's just what I'm going out and doing. Just attacking." –
Thomas Batties II
"It's just being unselfish. We just moved the ball around and got all the right shots. That's how I ended up scoring as many points as I did. It's just the system – trusting the system." – Batties II
Next Up
Harvard plays in its final road games of the regular season with contests at Princeton on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+) and at Penn on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+, NBC Sports Boston, NBC Sports Philadelphia+).
