CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's basketball will continue its Ivy League schedule this week with a pair of Ivy League contests. After sweeping a three-game road stand, the Crimson (13-9, 6-2 Ivy) will return to Lavietes Pavilion this weekend to take on Brown and Yale in another pair of key Ivy League matchups. The Bears (7-14, 1-7 Ivy) will head to Cambridge to lead off the weekend with a Friday (Feb. 13) tilt at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+. Harvard will then close out the weekend by facing off against the Bulldogs (18-4, 6-2 Ivy) at 6:30 p.m. on national television, as the contest will air live on ESPNU.
 

What to Know

• Harvard enters the weekend with a 13-9 record and a 6-2 mark in Ivy League play. It's mark in conference action has the Crimson tied for first in the conference with Yale.
• The Crimson is coming off a weekend victory against Dartmouth last weekend to stay in the driver's seat in the Ivy League.
• The 71-58 victory was paced by Robert Hinton (19 points, nine rebounds) and Tey Barbour (18 points, six rebounds) and strong performances from Thomas Batties II (14 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Chandler Piggé (13 points, seven rebounds, three assists).
• Harvard shot an efficient 47.1-percent from the field (24-of-51) and continued its success at the foul line with an 88.9-percent clip from the stripe (16-of-18).
• The Crimson has now won six of its last seven games which began with a three-game winning streak in conference play. The run started with a road win against Columbia (Jan. 10) before a weekend sweep of Princeton (Jan. 17) and Penn (Jan. 19) and has been followed by three road wins against Brown (Jan. 30), Yale (Jan. 31) and Dartmouth (Feb. 7) Harvard has now won five consecutive road contests.
• Harvard currently ranks second nationally with an 81.0-percent shooting clip from the foul line. The success at the stripe has been crucial during its successful stretch of games, as the Crimson has hot above 80-percent in six of the seven contests. This season, Harvard is 10-4 when it makes over 10 free throws.
• Hinton is leading all Crimson in scoring this season, tallying 17.3 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds per game. Among the Ivy League, Hinton currently ranks third in points per game and second in scoring with 380 points. A native of Los Angeles, California, Hinton has tallied double-digit points 18 times, scoring 20 or more points on seven occasions this year.
• Piggé is enjoying a career year in his final season with the Crimson, averaging a career-high 13.5 points per game, ranking 10th in the Ivy League in the category. Defensively, Piggé is also excelling, ranking second in the Ancient Eight in steals per game (1.6).
• Barbour is averaging 12.8 points per game this season to go along with a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game. A native of Manassas, Virginia, Barbour currently ranks first in the Ivy League in three-point field goal percentage (.419) this season. Barbour also ranks second in three-point field goal makes (57) in the conference.
• Batties has been a solid presence in Harvard's front court this season, chipping in with 12.0 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per contest. A native of Washington, D.C. and the recipient of the team's Hamilton Fish '10 Most Improved Player Award last year, Batties has also found success from beyond the three-point line this season, shooting 49.4-percent (41-of-83) from long range.
• As a team, the Crimson is currently the best defensive side in the Ivy League, ranking first in the Ancient Eight in points allowed per game (68.1). Harvard also ranks second in steals per game (7.1) and fourth in turnovers forced per game (11.18).
• Brown comes into the weekend with a 7-14 record and a 1-7 mark in conference play. The Bears have dropped five straight contests, including the first meeting with Harvard (Jan. 30), and currently sit in eighth place in the league standings.
• Co-Ivy League leading Yale enters the weekend with an 18-4 mark and a 6-2 record in Ivy action. The Bulldogs have won two straight games since falling to the Crimson in the first meeting in New Haven (Jan. 31).
• Junior guard Xavier Nesbitt has earned selection as a nominee for the Allstate NACDA Winter Good Works Team. Nesbitt garnered the recognition for going above and beyond in his commitment to community service, academic achievement, and athletic performance. Through Harvard's existing relationship with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and a fellowship with The Team, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization, Nesbitt organized a basketball clinic and civic engagement talk at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club during the 2024–25 academic year.

 

Up Next

Harvard will be back on the road next weekend, when it makes the trip to Ithaca to battle the Cornell Big Red. The sides will battle it out next at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 21) in Ithaca at Newman Arena with all the action airing live on ESPN+.