Physical Mustangs Bully Stumbling Crimson

It took 20 embarrassing, turnover-laden minutes for Harvard to finally assert itself in the lane against SMU—and by then, it was far too late.

An undersized Crimson frontcourt—junior center Brian Cusworth remains sidelined with a fractured hand—looked all the more mortal in the face of athletic, aggressive Mustang forwards who ruled the glass and the low block in the first half. SMU (6-4) tallied 18 points in the paint to just six for Harvard (8-5) in the opening frame of the Mustang’s 76-55 win on Wednesday. The Crimson’s own offensive sets were hurried and confined almost exclusively to the perimeter, with the few entry passes into the post swatted away by swarming Mustang defenders.

“Certainly Conference USA bodies are different than the bodies we’ve seen up to this point,” Harvard head coach Frank Sullivan said. “I think there's always an educational process for the players, trying to figure out how big is this person, how athletic are they, what their game is. Some of the tentativeness on the defensive end was really just trying to get a feel for the game.”

In the second half, however, Harvard won the battle in the interior, netting 18 points in the paint and holding SMU to 12. A more assertive man-to-man defense clamped down on the Mustangs’ post game, as the Crimson forced 12 second-half turnovers and held SMU’s starting frontcourt to just four points after the break. Mustang forward Derrick Roberts—who compiled 10 first half points on 5-of-9 shooting—took just one shot in the second half.

FLURRY OF FLAGRANTS

Freshman forward Evan Harris got well acquainted with SMU’s wood floor on Wednesday, suffering several hard knocks at the hands of Mustang post players. Two different players—SMU’s Bamba Fall and Brian Morris—were whistled for flagrant fouls against Harris in the second half. The first foul left Harris wincing and nursing a sore knee, but he eventually stepped to the line and sank 1-of-2 free throws. Morris’ flagrant foul came with just 0:15 left in the game after Harris scored on a pretty finger roll in the lane. Harris responded well to the physical play, tallying 10 points and going 4-of-7 from the charity stripe.

DIAPER DANDY DUO

After a dominant 18-point performance off the bench in a loss to Boston College, Harris was promoted to the starting lineup in Wednesday’s contest at SMU. With the switch, the Crimson starting five featured two freshmen—Harris and point guard Drew Housman—for the first time since both newcomers were five years old.

“It's been well over a decade since we've had two freshmen starting,” Sullivan said. “I’d say it was probably about 13 years ago since we had two frosh in the starting lineup. For them it's an interesting challenge.”

Housman—the Crimson’s third leading scorer—and Harris performed well on the road, combining for 16 of Harvard’s 55 points. In the second half, Housman scored back-to-back lay-ups in transition, including a breakaway after stealing the ball at half court.

A STYMIED STEHLE

Harvard captain Matt Stehle spent most of the game battling foul trouble and uncharacteristic poor shooting. Stehle, the Crimson’s leading scorer and chief target of SMU’s man-to-man defense, went without a shot in the first half. The Mustangs hedged screens and switched regularly to cut down Stehle’s open looks from the outside in the first half.

“When you can't shoot or you’re not shooting well, you've got to contribute in other ways,” Sullivan said of his captain. “Rebounding the ball, finding some offense from defense—and I think that carried over for him in the second half.”

Stehle responded with gritty play in the second half, pulling down six rebounds—four on the offensive end—and scoring seven of his nine points after the halftime whistle.

WELCOME BACK, HOPKINS

SMU’s senior guard Bryan Hopkins returned this week after being declared academically ineligible for the fall semester. Hopkins led the Mustangs in scoring, assists, and steals in 2004-2005, and he wasted little time returning to form. After a team-high 19 points against Wyoming on Dec. 19, Hopkins hit three first half three-pointers and racked up 13 points against the Crimson. He finished with four assists, the most electrifying coming on a first half alley-oop to Derrick Roberts.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu