Harvard men’s basketball jumped out to an 11-2 lead before the first media timeout and never looked back, as the Crimson notched a 79-54 wire-to-wire win over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
“I thought it was a tremendous effort from start to finish from our guys,” coach Tommy Amaker told Harvard Athletics. “It really was defensively. We had energy. We got the stops. We were able to get out and play from ahead. We were able to play a fun style early, which makes you get confidence quickly. On the road, that is so critical.”
Amaker’s squad improved to 1-1 in Ivy play and 8-8 on the season, while Kevin Hovde’s Lions, which lost their first home game of the 2025-26 campaign, dropped to 1-1 in the Ancient Eight and 12-4 for the year.
The Crimson built upon its strong opening, eventually taking a 36-21 lead with 2:47 to go in the opening frame.
Columbia finished the half on an 8-2 run, punctuated by a triple by senior guard Blair Thompson right before the buzzer, to make it a nine-point deficit at the break.
After the lead lessened to eight, 45-37, at the 15:40 mark of the second half, Harvard went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to grab another 15-point advantage.
Still up 15 with 8:24 left in the final frame, the Crimson put the game away by scoring the next nine points over a five-minute stretch to make it 72-48.
Below were the keys to the Crimson’s triumphant Manhattan matinee melody:
Balanced offensive effort
Harvard had great ball movement all game long with four starters hitting the double-digit mark and the last one missing by a single point.
Junior forward Thomas Batties II, who the SNY announcers noted to be a game-time decision due to a knee injury, led the victors with a season-high 24 points, including three triples.
“It was really just about trusting my game and trusting my teammates and coaches to put me in the best situation,” the junior forward told SNY when asked to explain his performance. “I think we game planned very well all week.”
Joining Batties in the double-digit club were sophomore guards Robert Hinton and Ben Eisendrath, who added 17 and 13 points, respectively, and senior guard Chandler Pigge with 11.
Sophomore guard Tey Barbour finished with nine points with a 3-for-5 effort from beyond the arc.
In addition to spreading the wealth in the scoring column, the Crimson shot 55.9% (19-for-34) from two, 47.6% (10-for-21) from three and 100% (11-for-11) from the free throw line, as well as a assisting on 62.1% (18-of-29) of their buckets.
Field-goal defense
As one of the SNY announcers mentioned, the Crimson’s sneakers were squeaky all game long, reflecting the relentless pressure the team was able to put on a Lions team that scored 104 points against Cornell last Monday night.
The visitors, who prefer to play at a more methodical tempo, limited the possessions to 60 and consistently frustrated the Columbia shooters.
The Lions entered the day shooting 39.2% from beyond the arc against Division I teams, which was tenth best in the country, and 54.7% from inside the arc, good enough for No. 86 in the nation. The Harvard defense, however, were able to shut the Light Blue down to the tune of 12.5% (2-for-16) from three and 47.5% (19-for-40) from two.
Columbia’s leading scorer, senior guard Kenny Noland, who was averaging 17 points per game, was limited to ten points on 28.5% (4-for-14) shooting with an 0-for-4 effort from three.
Rebounding
While the Lions had gaudy offensive numbers heading into the contest, the team also had impressive rebounding numbers, with a 37.1% offensive rate against Division I teams (No. 34 nationally) and a 73.8% defensive rate (No. 28).
The hosts also had the third-best rebounding margin in the land at 13.7 per game.
On Saturday, the undersized Crimson, whose main six rotation players range from 6-foot-2 to 6-foot-7, managed to outrebound their hosts by two, 32-30. While the Lions were able to grab 38.9% of their offensive attempts, Harvard secured a similar 38.5% rate and limited Columbia to a significantly lower 61.5% result on the defensive end.
Similar to the team’s scoring, the Crimson had a balanced effort on the glass with Pigge grabbing a team-high seven (three offensive), Barbour securing six, Batties and sophomore guard Austin Hunt each notching five and Hinton adding four.
Up next
Harvard heads back to Lavietes Pavilion for two home games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend with a Saturday matchup against surging Princeton (6-11, 2-0 Ivy) and a Monday tussle against Penn (8-7, 1-1). Columbia, meanwhile, will head out on the road to meet Brown (6-9, 0-2) on Saturday and preseason favorite Yale (12-3, 1-1) on Monday.
All games start at 2 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+.