The numbers: 5-2 overall, 176th RPI, 113th Sagarin, 159th Pomeroy
The recent results: lost 87-79 to Central Conn, lost 72-63 at Boston U.
The upcoming schedule: at Lehigh (3-6) on Saturday 12/10, Long Island (1-3) on Wednesday 12/14
Pivotal stretch upcoming
After the 5-0 start, the home loss to Central Connecticut was very disappointing. Losing on the road without Brian Cusworth to a BU team that was better than its 0-5 record indicated isn’t the end of the world, but now the Crimson is into a stretch of its schedule where it needs to rack up the wins. Lehigh, LIU, Albany, and Colgate are a combined 9-18, and only 1-5 Albany is rated outside of the bottom 75 teams. Frank Sullivan’s team did a nice job taking care of business against these types of opponents in November and needs to start doing so again. If Harvard enters the December 22 game at BC with anything worse than an 8-3 mark, that’s not a good sign for the Crimson’s Ivy title hopes.
Cusworth day-to-day
The small fracture in his hand kept Brian Cusworth from playing against BU and The Harvard Crimson reports Cusworth’s status for Saturday’s game at Lehigh will be determined at game time. Cusworth’s scoring is down slightly this year and he’s grabbing nearly two fewer rebounds per contest, though that is largely the result of playing just 15 minutes at Sacred Heart due to foul trouble.
Goffredo stepping up
With Cusworth and Matt Stehle getting most of the preseason attention, Jim Goffredo is leading the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game. The junior guard has been the high scorer in three of Harvard’s seven games, including a career-high 22 points in the loss to Central Connecticut. Goffredo was shooting 38.9 percent from outside the arc going into Tuesday’s game at BU, but a 1-for-8 performance from three-point range at The Roof dropped that number down to 34.1 percent.
A change for the better
The graduation of the entire three-man backcourt of David Giovacchini, Kevin Rogus, and Jason Norman was the most frequent argument against Harvard winning the league this year. Through the first quarter of the season, this year’s backcourt trio has carried much more of the scoring burden and has done so more efficiently than its predecessors. Freshman point guard Drew Housman, Goffredo, and senior wing Michael Beal are averaging 34.0 combined points per game this year versus 25.2 for last year’s guards, and are shooting a combined 45.9 percent, compared to 40.2 percent for Giovacchini, Rogus, and Normanr. That’s a big reason Harvard’s offensive efficiency has risen from 252nd in the nation last year to 152nd this year.
