Coming off their first loss of the Ivy League season, Harvard was glad to return to the friendly confines of Lavietes Pavilion Friday night. The Crimson righted the ship against Brown en route to their 26th consecutive home victory and took another step towards their first ever Ivy League Title.
Behind a huge first half and a double-double from senior forward Keith Wright, Harvard (22-3, 8-1 Ivy League) easily swept Brown (7-19, 1-8) with a 69-42 victory. Wright earned his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, as the team rebounded after last Saturday's loss at Princeton.
Freshmen forward Steve Mondou-Missi led the Crimson with 14 points and added six rebounds in just 18 minutes of play off the bench. Fellow rookies Wesley Saunders and Corbin Miller chipped in with nine points apiece as Harvard's four starters not named Keith Wright managed just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting. As a team, the Crimson shot 53.5 percent (25-of-47) and held a 40-23 rebounding advantage.
Matt Sullivan and Sean McGonagill led Brown with 11 points each as both players attempted a team-high 13 field goals. Stephen Albrecht added seven points and a team-high six rebounds for the Bears, who were knocked out of the game after less than 17 minutes of play.
Harvard opened the game with a 7-2 run, before the Bears responded to take their only lead of the game at 12-11 seven minutes into the game. The momentum was short lived for Brown, as Harvard quickly mounted a 24-2 run to take a 35-14 lead with 3:24 to go in the first half. During the almost 10 minute span, eight different Harvard players scored, with Moundou-Missi and junior Kyle Casey leading the way with five points apiece.
Brown cut the deficit to 16 in the second half but never really mounted a run, as the Harvard lead crept as high as 30 in the waning minutes.
The Crimson will be back in action Saturday night at home when they host second-place Yale at 7 p.m. Earlier this season, Harvard handed the Bulldogs a 65-35 thrashing in New Haven, in a matchup of two undefeated Ivy League squads. This time around Harvard is looking to sweep Yale and dispose of one of the three teams potentially standing in their way of the Ivy League crown.