HANOVER, N.H. – For those of us who saw Harvard men’s basketball dominate the Ivy League (and make a big mark on the national stage) for most of the 2010s, it’s somewhat unfathomable to point out that the Crimson have not been part of Ivy Madness since 2019.
A lot can happen in the final four weeks of the regular season, but that drought finally appears to be nearing an end this season. Harvard won its fourth straight road game and stayed atop the conference standings with Yale after gutting out a 71-58 win over a game Dartmouth team Saturday night at Leede Arena.
“I’m just really happy for our guys, they’re showing growth and development,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We’re still a very young team, we’re playing one senior and one junior, and everyone else is younger than that. We’re starting to see some chemistry developing, and just as important as anything, you’re seeing confidence building. This isn’t an easy place to win.”
The Crimson (13-9, 6-2 Ivy) were picked second in the league preseason poll, but dropped their conference opener to Dartmouth on Jan. 5 at home, leading to some doubting and soul searching. But Harvard is now 6-1 since, and while it hasn’t been dominant, it’s had several games like Saturday, a relatively slow game that sees them prevail in the end down the stretch.
Because they play so slow, the Crimson’s defense gets plenty of attention, but it’s the offense that has let them down in the recent past. Harvard has finished seventh in Ivy offensive efficiency in each of the past four campaigns, and the defense can only do so much.
The offense is not perfect this season, by any means, but the combination of sophomore Robert Hinton becoming a bona-fide Ivy League star and the Crimson shooting the ball much better (38.6% from three-point range entering Saturday in conference play, just behind Yale), has put Harvard at 6-2 heading into home games with Brown and Yale next weekend.
“We’re running our same philosophy offensively, we’ve tweaked some things based on personnel,” Amaker said. “I just think we’re more confident and more experienced, and I think our guys are just trusting ourselves a little more. That’s when you start seeing a team playing better offensively, it has to do with their unselfishness and their trust.”
Harvard never trailed Saturday, but also didn’t get a double digit lead until late in the second half as Dartmouth chipped away, but shot just 33.9% from the field (19-for-56).
The Big Green (10-11, 4-4) have had a few dramatic Ivy comebacks over the last couple of seasons and looked like another could be in the cards when Kareem Thomas (who finished with just seven points on 1-for-9 shooting) finally hit his first field goal of the night, a three-pointer that cut Harvard’s lead to 50-44 with 6:30 left.
But on the ensuing possession, sophomore Tey Barbour – shooting 40.9% from behind the arc – drilled a three-pointer, then did it twice more in the next 90 seconds to push the Crimson lead to 59-48. Hinton had 20 points (and nine rebounds), Barbour added 17, with Thomas Batties II having 14, and Chandler Pigge 13. Those four players continue to carry the majority of the load for Harvard offensively.
Dartmouth applied pressure and did force a couple of Harvard turnovers late (another area where the Crimson have struggled in the recent past), but never seriously threatened.
Hinton didn’t dominate throughout, but was the best player on the floor, and made plays when Harvard needed them.
“You see Robert’s growth in making the right play, not just taking the shot,” Amaker said. “He kicked out twice for Tey and those were huge decisions. And that’s the growth. I’ve said to him a lot, ‘I know you know how, but do you know when?’. He’s showing that he’s starting to know when. There’s a time to take over for us, but just as important is finding the open guy when it’s called for.”
Dartmouth falls to 4-4 in conference play and missed a chance to tie Harvard for second and next has Yale coming to town Friday night, and also faces a three-game road trip after next weekend. Thomas has been in a scoring slump since being moved up to the top of the Dartmouth scouting report and the team has struggled to adjust. Senior Jayden Williams tried to pick up the slack with 19 points and a couple of long three-pointers, while Brandon Mitchell-Day got his daily double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) but no other Big Green player was in double digits.
“There’s multiple teams in our league in the exact same position we are,” Dartmouth coach David McLaughlin said. “Those teams are going to have a choice to make. We just have to roll up our sleeves and get ready to work.”