Men’s Basketball Emerges Victorious 73-45 in Season Opener Over MIT

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — In the battle for Massachusetts Avenue, the Harvard men’s basketball team gave a not-so-warm welcome to the MIT Engineers, beating the Division III program 73-45 at Lavietes Pavilion in the Crimson’s season opener.

Entering Monday night ranked 12th on CollegeInsider’s Mid-Major Top-25 poll, Harvard (1-0) was out to get head coach Tommy Amaker’s 20th season in Cambridge off to a strong start, and it most certainly did versus the Engineers (0-1).

Through 20 minutes of basketball with just as much fun music through local DJ Stamz, the Crimson held a commanding lead over MIT, up 39-22 at the break.

The Red Line must’ve been delayed at Davis Square, though, as it took some time for Harvard to get rolling, with Engineer freshman guard Steele Labagh tying the score at 4-4 three minutes into the action.

The wheels got rolling towards Porter as the Crimson went on to score seven unanswered, emphasized by junior guard Tey Barbour dunking off an assist from junior guard Robert Hinton.

If it wasn’t for MIT senior center Wyatt Mowery breaking up the Harvard scoring spree with a layup off the pass from senior guard Isaac Dobie, the Crimson would’ve scored 22 unanswered.

Instead, the train firmly entered Harvard station as the Crimson went on its biggest scoring run of the first half, racking up 15 straight unanswered points to bring its lead to 20.

After scoring 23 in Harvard’s exhibition versus the University of Massachusetts, highly touted freshman guard Jason Singleton slammed a dunk following his own steal to the roar of the Lavietes crowd with just under 12 to play in the half.

The Lavietes atmosphere wasn’t entirely friendly to the Crimson, though, as the MIT contingent loved an early Labagh layup off of two offensive rebounds.

Although the Engineers stayed in the paint early, Harvard’s defense quickly adjusted.

“There were times when we had definitely had lapses on defense, but these were times when we came together and really strengthened,” said Barbour.

“I feel like, continuing to build off that last year, last year we had a really good defensive cohesive unit. We’re building that right now, so I feel like with time and with reps, as we get deeper in the season, later in the season, it’s just gonna keep coming more with that continuity and keep growing,” he added.

The Crimson’s 22 points in the paint in the first half were driven by senior forward Luca Ace-Nasteski going three-for-four in the paint, along with Hinton shooting four-for-six on free throws.

MIT’s eight fouls helped Harvard score eight from the line as the Crimson shot eight-for-10

Harvard also calculated its shot angles better than the Engineers, shooting 41.2 percent from the field compared to MIT’s 28.6 percent.

Barbour’s eight points off two threes and a 75 percent field goal rate in the first half was just the beginning of a very successful outing for the guard.

Having thoroughly completed its stop at the MBTA’s third-largest subway station by passenger volume, Harvard, the Red Line faced the infamous screech inbound toward Central Square.

Thankfully for the Crimson, it avoided the screech going into the second half, up 17, where it maintained its defensive prowess, keeping MIT shooting field goals at 29.2 percent.

Having kept a double-digit lead throughout the last 20, Amaker was able to rotate deep through the Harvard lineup, including freshmen forward Julian Adigan, guard Brandon Burrell, and guard Preston Merrick for significant chunks of time.

“We have a great group,” Barbour said, emphasizing the team’s depth. “I mean every one of them brings something great to the team.”

“As you can see, everybody that got out there today contributed in a way, so I’m just really excited about this crew, really excited about the team,” the junior added.

In many aspects of the second half, Harvard and MIT were even, including nearly identical three-point shooting (four for 11 and four for 12, respectively), rebounds (21 and 19, respectively), and fouls (nine for both).

The Engineers did, however, commit their fouls quicker than the Crimson, putting Harvard in the bonus with just under 13 left to play, forcing the visitors on their back foot defensively.

MIT’s lapses on defense weren’t an isolated concern, as Barbour attributed a significant part of the Crimson’s success on offense to junior guard Ben Eisendrath.

“On offense, we have a great leader in Ben Eisendrath at point guard,” he said. “He makes sure every huddle, every time he comes to the court, that he’s loud and vocal, and everybody knows exactly what we’re in.”

When the 40 minutes had passed, 17 different Harvard players had seen the floor. The Crimson had also outmatched MIT 40.6 percent to 28.8 percent in field goal percentage and 73.7 percent to 66.7 percent in free throw shooting, starting its season strong.

20 isn’t just a building number used for a hastily built radar research facility on MIT’s campus; it was the number of turnovers the Engineers committed while Harvard scored 18 points off of them, taking advantage of some miscommunications in passing and play calling, no thanks to the radios.

Any basketball fundamentalist would be pleased to see how well the Crimson outshot MIT in points in the paint, racking up 34 compared to the Engineers’ 14.

While Harvard’s unsustainable 31.8 percent shooting from the three-point line and 11 turnovers highlight just a few areas for improvement, the Red Line can comfortably pass through MIT for its onward travel to Chicago next weekend with a solid win under its belt.

In Chicago, on a homecoming trip for captain Xavier Nesbitt and senior guard Payton Pitts, the Crimson will face yet another Division III foe in the University of Chicago on Nov. 8, the first time U Chicago has hosted a Division I opponent since 1970. Harvard will hope to continue building momentum on its four-game road series before hosting ACC cross-town rival Boston College on Nov. 17 at Lavietes.

—Staff writer Leo P. Petropoulos can be reached at [email protected].