Harvard Men's Basketball - NCAA Tournament Coverage
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The Dance Continues; Harvard to Face Michigan State Saturday - March 22
And as the dance continues, the challenges get even greater.
In really no surprise, Harvard's next NCAA Tournament opponent is No. 4 seed Michigan State. Inked in thousands of brackets to cut the nets down at AT&T Stadium in 18 days, the Spartans made easy work of its second-round foe, 13th-seeded Delaware, paced by a career-high 41 points from Adreian Payne.
Now it is the Crimson and the Spartans colliding with the chance to go to the Sweet 16 at the World's Most Famous Arena, hosting NCAA Tournament games for the first time in 50 years.
Harvard is one step of away from being a part of that history and extending its own history to reaches almost never thought of from a team that took a 66-year hiatus from dancing in March and is now in the middle of its fifth-straight postseason appearance.
The task will be daunting. The game will be intriguing. The chance to make another One Shining Moment will be...priceless.
2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Central
The Storyline
The Harvard men's basketball team has advanced to the third round of the 2014 NCAA tournament and will face fourth-seeded Michigan State Saturday, March 22. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. EST live on TNT.
Harvard became the first team from the Ivy League to win an NCAA tournament game in back-to-back years since Princeton did so in 1983 and 1984. A win on Saturday versus the Spartans would send the Crimson to the Sweet 16, a feat most recently accomplished by the 2010 Cornell Big Red.
Noteables
• Harvard advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament with a 61-57 win over fifth-seeded Cincinnati on Thursday. The victory was the Crimson's second in as many years in the Big Dance, and marked the first time an Ivy League program has won at least one tournament game in back-to-back seasons since Princeton did so in 1983 and 1984.
• At 27-4, Harvard has set a new school record for most wins in a season and will enter Saturday's contest riding a nine-game win streak. The Crimson also set a program record for Ivy League victories by finishing the "14-Game Tournament" with a 13-1 mark, and completed the program's first undefeated season on the road in Ancient Eight play.
• Wesley Saunders was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, becoming just the third member of the Crimson to earn the honor; Joe Carrabino '84-85 (1984), Keith Wright '12 (2011). Saunders will enter Saturday's game having scored 990 career points, needing just 10 more points to join teammates Kyle Casey (1,239) andLaurent Rivard (1,263) as a member of Harvard's 1,000-point club.
• Harvard received six total All-Ivy League selections, matching the 1994-95 Penn team for the most in Ivy League history; Wesley Saunders (1st team), Siyani Chambers (2nd team), Steve Moundou-Missi (2nd team), Laurent Rivard (2nd team), Kyle Casey (HM) and Brandyn Curry (HM).
Last Time Out
Siyani Chambers scored five of his 11 points in the final 1:58 to lift the 12th-seeded Harvard men's basketball team to a 61-57 win over fifth-seeded Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Wesley Saunders finished with a team-high 12 points and four assists, with Chambers and Laurent Rivard each contributing 11. Chambers was just 2-of-10 from the floor, but connected when the team needed it most to put Harvard ahead 56-53 with 1:58 on the clock. Rivard was 3-of-5 from three-point range and matched his season-high with five boards.