NOTEBOOK: Sharp Shooting Not Enough for Men's Basketball in Fifth Straight Loss

BOSTON—The Harvard men’s basketball team’s fifth straight loss, a 76-73 defeat at Northeastern, came despite a very efficient night for the Crimson on the offensive end.

Harvard made 29 of its 49 shots from the field for a remarkable 59.2 percentage. In the second half, it was even better, hitting 14 of 22.

Just as importantly, the Crimson took good care of the ball throughout the game. Harvard has recorded more turnovers than assists on the season, but against the Huskies, it put up 17 assists against 12 turnovers. The Crimson turned it over just five times in the second half.

“That’s always one of the things coaches talk about before the game,” said junior point guard Drew Housman, who led the team with five assists. “Turnovers were huge, and even the few ones we had [Northeastern] seemed to capitalize on and that gives them momentum. I think everyone made a concerted effort to focus on being strong with the ball.”

The strong shooting and ball control resulted in five Harvard players scoring in double figures for just the second time this season. Housman led the way with 16 points, followed by junior forward Evan Harris with 13. A trio of sophomores completed the bunch, with forward Pat Magnarelli and guard Dan McGeary each scoring 12, and guard Jeremy Lin finishing with 10.

McGeary’s 12 points matched his best in a Crimson uniform, after he scored the same amount in a loss at Long Island on Dec. 13. His points came on four three-pointers, including three in the first half to help keep the game close.

“In the first half I got a lot of open looks,” McGeary said. “I thought our big guys did a good job of passing the ball, especially in the first half. That allowed us guards to get a couple backdoor [layups], a couple wide-open jumpers. It’s not just one guy launching threes. It’s got to be a total team effort.”

FREE FALLING

Although Harvard shot more accurately than the Huskies’ 47.3 field-goal percentage, Northeastern was able to balance that out by getting to the free throw line more than twice as many times as the visitors. The Huskies went to the line 27 times, compared to only 13 attempts for the Crimson, which hit 10 of its attempts. Northeastern made 19 of its tries from the stripe.

“It’s a little bit attributed to different styles of play,” Huskies coach Bill Coen said. “We got the ball around the basket, got some offensive rebounds through our athleticism and were able to get fouled there. Their offense was predicated on penetrate-and-kick and high-low stuff. Some of it’s that and we made a conscious effort to get the ball around the basket.”

Leading the way for Northeastern at the line was 6’9 center Nkem Ojougboh, who attempted one less free throw by himself than the entire Harvard team. He went 8-for-12 and finished with 14 points.

SCHOOL’S OUT

The game was Huskies’ first in 13 days, following a break for exams. Perhaps taking advantage of its opponent’s layoff, the Crimson got off to a fast start, scoring on its first three possessions of the game and opening up a 14-10 lead with 14:10 left in the half.

“No matter how much you try to simulate game situations in practice—we scrimmaged a lot over these past two weeks—you just don’t have that sharpness and that edge,” Coen said. “I think Harvard had an advantage tonight having continued to play while we were off. They got to keep their game edge. I thought we really didn’t have it coming into tonight and it showed early.”

One Northeastern player who was not slowed down by the break was sophomore Manny Adako. After recording no points in the team’s last game, a 69-60 loss at Connecticut on Dec. 6, Adako was key in helping the Huskies overcome a shaky start and grab a 43-38 halftime lead. He scored 13 points in the first half and finished with a career-high 19 points.

“The break just gave me a chance to refresh and start over,” Adako said.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.