PRINCETON, N.J. – Sophomore guard
Robert Hinton hit the game-winner with 3.1 seconds left as the Crimson erased a 17-point second-half deficit to win its seventh straight road game as Harvard Men's Basketball beat Princeton, 58-56, on Friday night at Jadwin Gymnasium to move into a tie for first place in the Ivy League standings with Yale.
Facing a 38-21 deficit early in the second half, the Crimson (16-10, 9-3 Ivy) rallied to take its first lead at 48-47 with 6:45 to play and then re-took the lead twice inside of the final minute, including on Hinton's game-winning jumper, to come back from a 17-point deficit against the Tigers (8-19, 4-8 Ivy) for the second time on the year and sweep the series.
With the win, Harvard moved into a tie for first place in the Ivy League standings with Yale with both teams holding 9-3 marks in conference play with two games remaining.
Behind the victory, Harvard improved to 6-0 in road games in conference play, moved to 7-0 in its last seven road games dating back to Dec. 28, and bettered its mark to 9-2 in its last 11 outings.
Opening a back-to-back weekend in its final regular season road games, the Crimson featured four double-figure scorers in Hinton (15 points), sophomore guard
Tey Barbour (14), sophomore guard
Ben Eisendrath (11), and junior forward
Thomas Batties II (10) while senior guard
Chandler Piggé added eight points alongside game highs in rebounds (nine) and steals (four).
Harvard Highlights
- Sophomore guard Robert Hinton scored a team-high 15 points, including the game-winning field goal with 3.1 seconds left. He has scored in double figures in all 12 Ivy League games on the season.
- Sophomore guard Tey Barbour tallied 14 points and five rebounds, while hitting four 3-pointers. He finished in double figures for the 20th time on the year and connected on three or more 3-pointers in a game for the 15th time in 2025-26.
- Sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath posted 11 points and a team-high four assists, connecting on 5-of-6 shots from inside the arc. He notched his sixth double-figure scoring effort of the year.
- Junior forward Thomas Batties II netted 10 points, made 4-of-7 field goals, and grabbed four rebounds. He scored in double figures for the 18th time on the year.
- Senior guard Chandler Piggé contributed eight points, a game-high nine rebounds, three assists, and a game-best four steals.
- Harvard earned its seventh straight road win, improved to 6-0 in its six Ivy road games, and moved to 9-2 in its last 11 games overall.
- The Crimson improved to 6-3 in games decided by 1-5 points.
- Harvard bettered its mark to 4-1 in games when it scores 50-59 points, including wins over Marist (56-54 on Nov. 16), Bryant (56-53 on Nov. 29), Brown (56-53 on Feb. 13), and Princeton (58-56 on Feb. 27).
- The Crimson came back from a 17-point deficit in both of its games against the Tigers. Harvard rallied for an 87-80 (OT) win against Princeton on Jan. 17 in the first game of the season series.
Gallery: (2-27-2026) Men's Basketball at Princeton
How It Happened
- After the Tigers scored the game's first eight points, the Crimson trimmed the margin to 13-9 at the 11:45 mark of the first half following a jumper from Hinton.
- Princeton maintained at least a six-point edge for the remainder of the first half as the hosts lead 33-21 at the break.
- After the Tigers pushed their lead its largest at 17 points at 38-21 with 18:48 to play, Barbour and Hinton hit back-to-back 3-pointers to move the margin to 38-27 with 17:56 left.
- Still facing a 45-31 deficit with 12:23 to go, Eisendrath converted a driving layup prior to an old-fashioned 3-point play to pull the Crimson within 45-36 with 11:03 left.
- Back-to-back 3-pointers from Barbour then whittled the difference to a one-possession game at 47-44 with 8:44 to play.
- A jumper from Hinton at the 6:45 mark gave Harvard its first lead of the game at 48-47 as the Crimson outscored the Tigers 27-9 following the hosts' largest lead.
- A jumper from Hinton and steal-and-score from Piggé pushed the edge to 52-49 before the Tigers re-gained a 54-52 advantage with 2:43 left.
- After Piggé hit two free throws to tie the score at 54-54 with 1:45 to go, Batties II put Harvard up 56-54 with a jumper with 47.1 seconds on the clock.
- Following a basket from the Tigers that evened the score at 56-56, Hinton knocked down the game-winning jumper with 3.1 seconds to go, and the Crimson defense stopped the Tigers on the game's final possession.
Postgame Quotes
- "Winning here at Princeton is never easy. We've had very few of them through the years to be able to come here at Princeton and then have a season sweep. Both games we were down big and had to claw and fight our way back. That says a lot about our team – the character and chemistry that you have to have to come back from something like that. I'm very pleased with that. We said at halftime that if it's going to happen, we have to pull ourselves through. I'm just proud of their effort and energy to make it happen here this evening." – Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg '71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men's Basketball
- "It was a sensational effort on the winning basket from Robert Hinton. We wanted it in his hands to see if we could close it out. I thought Chandler Piggé's defensive effort there throughout, especially in the second half, getting steals and layups on the other end, making free throws. Then Ben Eisendrath was outstanding with some of his drives. I thought he took some pressure off everybody else. It was a team effort. Thomas Batties II hit a big shot to give us the lead late. There were some really neat things in a hard-fought game." – Coach Amaker
- "My team, my coaches, they trust me with the ball at the end of games, and I'm so happy I made that shot. I'm so proud of our guys for coming through in the clutch there. Big comeback. We had a huge comeback against Princeton at our place earlier this season. So, to be able to do it twice against the same team is crazy. But we really dug deep. So, I'm so proud of our guys." – Sophomore guard Robert Hinton
- "At Halftime, we were down. We weren't playing how we how we should be. We weren't representing who we are. And especially me. I think I was playing horrible up until halftime, but, my team, my support group, the coaches, they're so encouraging. They always have my back. And they were with me throughout the whole game. And we're there for each other. We pull through, we stick together, especially when it gets hard. And I'm so happy it paid off. I'm so happy we got this win. This means a lot to us." – Robert Hinton
Next Up
Harvard plays at Penn tomorrow – Saturday, Feb. 28 – at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+/NBC Sports Philadelphia/NBC Sports Boston).
