The Harvard men's basketball team is 11-1 at Lavietes Pavilion this season (Gil Talbot).
The Particulars
The Harvard men's basketball team will host Columbia and Cornell in the final home games of the regular season at Lavietes Pavilion.
Harvard, which stands at 17-9 overall and 9-3 in conference play, is in second place in the Ivy League. Columbia (12-14, 4-8) sits in seventh place in the Ancient Eight.
Game Coverage
Friday's game will be shown live on GoCrimson.com.
Saturday's game will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports at 5:30 p.m.
Charlie Hobbs and Brecka Fetzer will be the audio announcers. Live statistics will also be available at GoCrimson.com.
Series History Against Columbia
Friday's game marks the 170th meeting between Harvard and Columbia, with the Lions owning a 94-75 advantage in the series that started back in 1900-01. The Crimson has taken seven of the last nine games against the Lions, but Columbia knocked off Harvard, 78-63, in New York Feb. 10.
Harvard's Last Time Out
Christian Webster made five 3-pointers, and Laurent Rivard nailed four treys, but the Crimson could not complete a comeback at Penn, falling, 75-72. Wesley Saunders added 20 points, and Steve Moundou-Missi also recorded double figures by tallying 10 points for the Crimson.
Columbia's Last Time Out
The Lions fell on a last second 3-pointer by Brown, 61-58, March 2. Brian Barbour made five steals and finished with a team-high 18 points, while Maodo Lo made six buckets and tallied 14 points.
Ivy League Race
With two games remaining for the Crimson, Harvard is in second in the confernece at 9-3, while Princeton is in first at 9-2. The Crimson closes out the year by hosting Columbia and Cornell, while Princeton plays three games, all on the road, at Yale, Brown and Penn. If Harvard and Princeton are tied after the regular season, there will be a one-game playoff.
Around The Conference
In other Ancient Eight contests this weekend, Princeton visits Yale, Brown hosts Penn and Dartmouth welcomes Cornell Friday. On the following evening, Princeton travels to Brown, Yale plays Penn and Dartmouth faces Columbia.
Senior Day
Christian Webster will be honored prior to Friday's game. Webster is 12 points shy of 1,000 for his career and ranks third in team history with 113 games played and fifth with 169 career 3-pointers. Webster is also the winningest player in team history with 87 victories in his four years.
Harvard Tops Over Last Four Seasons
Over the last four seasons, Harvard owns the best conference record in the Ivy League.
Harvard - 43-11 (.796)
Princeton - 42-11 (.792)
Cornell - 31-21 (.596)
Yale - 29-25 (.537)
Penn - 28-25 (.528)
Columbia - 19-35 (.351)
Brown - 17-37 (.315)
Dartmouth - 6-48 (.111)
Winning Tradition
Current senior Christian Webster has helped Harvard win 87 games throughout his career (87-29, .750), a program record. Last year's senior class of Oliver McNally '12, Andrew Van Nest '12 and Keith Wright '12 held the previous mark, winning 84 games (84-34, .712) during their careers.
Block Party
In Harvard's 73-54 win over Penn Feb. 15, Kenyatta Smith set a Harvard program record with 10 blocked shots. The Crimson rejected 15 shots as a team, also a new program record.
Smith paces the Crimson with 2.0 blocks per contest, and Harvard leads the Ivy League with 4.4 blocks per game as a team. Smith has 49 rejections this season, the fourth most in a year in team history. Brian Banks '78 swatted away a program record 59 shots in the 1977-78 campaign.
On Fire
Wesley Saunders has scored in double figures in each of Harvard's first 26 games this season. He tallied a career-high 27 points at Coumbia Feb. 10 and paces the Crimson and the Ivy League with 16.6 points per game.
Saunders is the first Harvard player to reach double digits in scoring in at least 10 consecutive games since Keith Wright '12 tallied 10 or more points in 19 straight contests between Jan. 22, 2011-Nov. 24, 2011.
Long-Distance Shooter
Laurent Rivard has taken 188 field-goal attempts this season (75-of-188, .399), with 171 of them being 3-point attempts (68-of-171, .398). More than 90 percent (.909) of Rivard's shot attempts have been beyond the arc.
Rivard has also taken 40.9 percent (171) of Harvard's 418 3-point attempts this season.
Heating Up
Over his last six games, Steve Moundou-Missi has recorded double figures in scoring five times. He is averaging 12.7 points per game during this stretch.
Chambers Earning Accolades
Freshman Siyani Chambers was named a nominee for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top men's college basketball point guard each season. Chambers has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week five times this season (Dec. 3, Dec. 17, Jan. 7, Jan. 14, Jan. 28). The Ivy League record for most rookie awards in a season for an individual is eight, held by Penn's Michael Jordan in 1996-97 and Cornell's Adam Gore in 2005-06.
Chambers ranks second on the Crimson with 12.6 points per contest and paces the Ivy League with 5.8 assists per game.
On Pace For History
Laurent Rivard has buried 68 3-pointers this year and is on pace to break Harvard's single-season record for treys. Kevin Rogus '05 connected on 74 triples during the 2003-04 campaign, and Rivard is on pace to make 73 3-pointers during the regular season.
If Rivard makes 25 more 3-pointers, he will also tie the program record for career treys, held by Dan Clemente '01 (220). Rivard currently has 195 career triples, ranking him second in program history.
Hot Hands
The Crimson stands tied for 10th in the nation in team 3-point shooting percentage (.397) and is tied for 11th in team field-goal shooting percentage (.482). Harvard shot a season-best 62.8 percent from the floor as a team in the 75-65 victory at Dartmouth Jan. 12.
Season Honors
Siyani Chambers
Bob Cousy Award Nominee
Ivy League Rookie of the Week (Dec. 3, Dec. 17, Jan. 7, Jan. 14, Jan. 28)
Wesley Saunders
Ivy League Player of the Week (Dec. 3, Dec. 10, Jan. 14. Feb. 4, Feb. 25)
Kenyatta Smith
Ivy League Player of the Week (Feb. 18)
Christian Webster
Ivy League Player of the Week (Jan. 28)
Double-Double Show
Harvard has had six double-doubles this season. Siyani Chambers has three (Jan. 5, Feb. 2 and Feb. 8), while Wesley Saunders (Feb. 1), Kenyatta Smith (Feb. 15) andJonah Travis (Dec. 1) have recorded one double-double apiece.
Top Scorer
With his 27-point performance at Columbia Feb. 20, Wesley Saunders scored the most points by a Harvard player since Christian Webster tallied 29 in a 75-69 win at Mercer Nov. 20, 2010.
Seeing Action
Christian Webster has played in 113 games in his Harvard career, ranking tied for third in program history. Oliver McNally '12 played in 118 games in his career, a Harvard record.
Harvard Against The Ivy League
Over the past three seasons, the Crimson boasts a 33-8 mark (.805) against the Ivy League. Harvard is 15-6 (.714) against Ancient Eight opponents on the road, 18-1 at home (.947) and 0-1 in neutral-site contests.
Swat Team
A Harvard player had at least six rejections in three straight games from Feb. 10-Feb. 16. Steve Moundou-Missi turned away six shots at Columbia Feb. 10, Kenyatta Smith had a program record 10 blocks vs. Penn Feb. 15, and then Smith had six more rejections against Princeton Feb. 16.
Assist Mark
Rookie point guard Siyani Chambers has dished out 152 assists this season, or 5.8 points per contest. The Harvard record for assists in a season by a freshman is 178, set by Glenn Fine '79 in 1975-76. Chambers is on pace for 164 helpers this year.
Stepping Up In Conference Play
In 12 Ivy League games, Wesley Saunders is scoring 17.5 points and handing out 4.0 assists per contest, while Siyani Chambers is averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 assists.
Touch From Downtown
Siyani Chambers made all five of his 3-point attempts at St. Mary's Dec. 31 and was 3-of-3 from long range at Dartmouth Jan. 12. Chambers is shooting 42.5 percent (36-of-82) from beyond the arc in his rookie campaign, ranking fifth in the Ivy League.
Laurent Rivard is making 39.8 percent of his shots from long distance (68-of-171), ranking seventh in the conference. Rivard also paces the league with 2.6 3-pointers made per game.
All-Around Player
Wesley Saunders ranks in the top 10 in the Ivy League in six statistical categories. Saunders is first in scoring (16.6 ppg), first in steals (2.0 spg), second in field-goal percentage (.550), third in minutes played (37.3 mpg), seventh in assists (3.6 apg) and eighth in free-throw percentage (.730).
Run At The Charity Stripe
Before missing against Holy Cross Dec. 22, Siyani Chambers made 32 shots in a row at the charity stripe over the course of seven contests, beginning Nov. 13. He is shooting 82.2 percent from the line (97-of-118) for the season, which ranks fourth in the Ivy League.
As a freshman in 2009-10, Laurent Rivard drained 30 consecutive foul shots between Nov. 28, 2010 and Jan. 15, 2011, a span of 11 games. Rivard is shooting 86.0 percent from the line this season, going 49-of-57 but does not have enough attempts to appear in the national rankings.
Freshman At The Point
Siyani Chambers is averaging 5.8 assists per game, which leads the conference, and has only turned the ball over 93 times for a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, good for seventh in the Ivy League.
Chambers ranks second on the Crimson with 12.6 points per game and has reached double figures in 19 of 26 games this season.
Reaching 90
With Harvard's 92-62 victory over Rice Jan. 5, the Crimson reached the 90-point plateau for the first time since defeating Brown, 91-71, at Lavietes Pavilion Feb. 26, 2010. Harvard's 92-point effort was the most since winning at Seattle, 92-71, Jan. 2, 2010.
Crimson in Overtime
With Harvard's dramatic 89-82 win in double overtime against Brown Feb. 2, the Crimson has won its last six games that have gone past regulation. The Crimson held off William & Mary, 87-85, in three overtimes with Jeremy Lin's 3-point buzzer beater Nov. 15, 2009, downed Yale, 82-79, Feb. 12, 2010, won at Penn, 83-82, Feb. 5, 2011 and picked up a win at Columbia, 77-70, March 2, 2012. The Crimson also downed Dartmouth, 82-77, in overtime earlier this season on Jan. 26.
Seeing Lots Of Time
Three Harvard players are among the top five players in the Ancient Eight in minutes played. Siyani Chambers is first in the conference with 37.8 minutes per game, while Wesley Saunders (37.3) is third and Laurent Rivard (35.2) ranks fifth.
Chambers, Saunders, Rivard and Christian Webster have also each played all 40 minutes of a game at least once this year. In Harvard's overtime win over Dartmouth Jan. 26, Saunders played 44 minutes, followed by Chambers (43) and Rivard (41) and Webster (41). Saunders and Rivard saw action in 49 minutes, and Chambers played 47 in the double-overtime win over Brown.
Harvard Against The Ivy League Under Amaker
Over the six seasons under head coach Tommy Amaker, the Crimson owns a 52-30 record in Ivy League conference games (.634).
3-Point Streak
From Feb. 24, 2012 to Feb. 16, 2013, Laurent Rivard had made at least one 3-pointer in 26 straight games, the second longest streak in team history. As a freshman, Rivard connected on at least one 3-pointer in 15 straight games from Nov. 17, 2010 until Jan. 8, 2011.
The Crimson program record for consecutive games with a 3-point field goal is 29, held by Jim Goffredo '07.
Harvard Against The BCS
Harvard owns a 10-11 record against BCS conferences under Tommy Amaker. The Crimson has defeated Boston College five times and has also topped Michigan, Colorado, Utah, Florida State and California during Amaker's tenure. The Crimson also defeated at least one BCS team in each of the last six seasons.
Harvard beat Boston College for the fifth straight year, 79-63, Dec. 4, downed California, 67-62, Dec. 29, but fell on the road at Connecticut, 57-49, Dec. 7.
Double-Overtime Thriller
Harvard topped Brown, 89-82, in double overtime at Lavietes Pavilion Feb. 2. Prior to that, the Crimson last played a double-overtime game at Penn, winning, 83-82, Feb. 5, 2011. Harvard's last double-overtime game at home was an 87-85 triple-overtime victory against William & Mary Nov. 15, 2009, when Jeremy Lin '10 won the game with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Kings of Massachusetts's Courts
From Dec. 10, 2008 through Nov. 13, 2012, the Crimson owned a 15-game winning streak against schools from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which began after falling to Northeastern in overtime, 76-71, in 2008. UMass snapped the streak by downing Harvard, 67-64, Nov. 13 of this year. The Crimson is 4-1 against teams from Massachusetts this season with wins over MIT, BC, BU and Holy Cross and is 19-1 over its last 20 games against teams from the Commonwealth.
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