PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Harvard men's basketball started off its Ivy League road trip this evening with a hard-fought victory against the Brown Bears in Providence. The Crimson was led by Robert Hinton, who scored a team-high 22 points after going 14-15 from the free throw line on Friday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
 
A strong performance from Hinton and a career night for Tey Barbour – who posted a career-best 20 points on 4-6 shooting from behind the three-point line – helped the Crimson (11-9, 4-2 Ivy) pick up the win against the Bears (7-12, 1-5 Ivy).
 
The Crimson and the Bears went toe-to-toe in what became a game marked by physicality and toughness. Harvard set the tone physically, forcing Brown to commit 22 fouls which sent Harvard to the line often in the tilt. One of the best foul-shooting teams in the nation, Harvard capitalized on their free throws, making 27-of-29 in the effort.
 
Paced by Hinton and Barbour, Harvard shot 51.4-percent (18-for-35) from the field to come out of Providence with a hard-fought win.
   

Harvard Highlights

• Tey Barbour posted a career high 20 points off 4-of-6 shooting from behind the three-point arc. The sophomore added seven rebounds to help his team on the glass. Barbour was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
• Robert Hinton posted a team-high 22 points thanks to an efficient night at the free throw line. Hinton hit a career-best 14 free throws in 16 attempts. The sophomore added four assists and two steals in the effort.
• Chandler Piggé stuffed the stat sheet yet again, scoring 16 points (6-of-12 FG), grabbing three rebounds and logging one assist, steal and block in 33 minutes played.
• Harvard shot 29 free throws in the contest, hitting 27 for a percentage of 93.1. It was the most free throw makes for the Crimson against Brown under Tommy Amaker.
• Thomas Batties II played solid defense in the matchup, blocking three shots while grabbing six rebounds.
• The Crimson shot an efficient 58.8-percent from the field in the second half to pull away from Brown.

 

How it Happened

• The Crimson and the Bears went back and forth to start the action, trading baskets in the opening sequence, building the score to 8-8 at the first media timeout. Piggé, Hinton and Ben Eisendrath each got on the scoresheet early to help the Crimson keep pace.
• Both sides continued to battle in the first half, as the teams worked to seven ties and three lead changes in the first 20 minutes. Harvard built several five-point leads in the frame but each time Brown was able to respond and cut into the advantage.
• Brown briefly took a 22-20 lead with seven minutes to go in the first half, but Harvard was able to answer with a three-pointer from Piggé to retake the lead. From that point on, the Bears would not reclaim the lead.
• Six points from Hinton and five from Barbour in the closing minutes of the half helped the Crimson build a 34-28 lead going into the locker room.
• After Brown opened the scoring in the second half, Harvard went on a quick 8-0 scoring to take its first double-digit lead of the night. A three-point play from Eisendrath and five straight points from Barbour pushed the Crimson advantage to 42-31 less than four minutes into the frame.
• The Bears would make several comeback chances in the following minutes, but every time Harvard was there to answer with timely scoring.  After keeping the Bears at bay, Hinton, Piggé and Barbour hit consecutive shots to give the Crimson a 13-point lead – its largest advantage of the night – 57-44 with only seven minutes remaining.
• Harvard continued its excellent foul-shooting form in the closing minutes, hitting eight consecutive foul shots in the final 61 seconds to secure a 69-59 victory over Brown.

Postgame Quotes

• "It all starts in practice. Coach told us this was the type of game it was going to be. We drilled it all week and that showed today why we were the more physical team." – Tey Barbour on the physicality of the game.
• "It's a great weapon for us. Coach [Amaker] says it all the time. When we get there, we are one of the best free-throw shooting teams in the nation. [Coach] emphasizes it before every game. It always says – on the bottom of our white board – get to the free throw line." – Tey Barbour on the team's strong performance at the free throw line.
• "This was a vintage Ivy contest and certainly a very pleasing one for us to play as well as we did in the key moments on the road… Our performance out of Tey [Barbour] and Robert [Hinton] was the difference for us and our ability to get to the foul line and shoot at a very high clip – 27 for 29 – clearly was the difference in the game so very pleased with our guys to find a way to win a tough, hard-fought and competitive game here on the road." - Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball

 

Up Next

The Crimson's Ivy League road trip continues tomorrow night when the team takes on its rival Yale on the road in New Haven. Tipoff between the foes is set for 7:00 PM inside John J. Lee Amphitheater with all the action set to air live on ESPN+.