CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Alex Barnett remembered something his coach said about their Ivy League travel partner. Dartmouth last won at Harvard in 1999, despite having some chances since then to pull out a win at Lavietes Pavilion. Fifth-year head coach Terry Dunn was determined to change that, and, it turns out, his senior star had something to do with it.
“Coach said he was going to bring a team here one day that was going to get a win,” Barnett said after the Big Green knocked off the Crimson 75-66 in overtime on Saturday. “I’m just so happy it happened to be during my senior year. At least I was on one of those teams that got a win at Harvard.”
Barnett played no small role in the win that broke the skid. He scored 30 points, 18 of which came in the second half and overtime, going 6-8 from the field in that span. A number of those shots were in the clutch, at times where Dartmouth was holding off the Crimson in regulation and then when they took control in the extra session.
That wasn’t a given at one point, when he picked up his third foul less than four minutes into the second half. With the Big Green clinging to a one-point lead at the time, it seemed like that would be the chance for Harvard to make a run and take over the game. But that run never came, as the Crimson were lucky to tie the game at 48 with just under ten minutes to play. That’s when Barnett took over.
After the tie, Barnett came right back in the game, and on the next possession he hit a jumper to put the Big Green back on top after they got an offensive rebound. He then added two free throws to make it a four-point lead. With under five minutes to go, the Crimson finally regained the lead at 57-56 on two free throws by Keith Wright, but it was short-lived as Barnett hit another jumper 18 seconds later to start a 6-0 run of his own that put them ahead until Jeremy Lin’s layup with 1.1 seconds left sent it to overtime.
In the extra session, Barnett outscored Harvard all by himself with six more points. He scored the first two points of overtime and the last two as well.
“I’m a leader on this team as a senior, and I just feel like when there’s pressure, or there’s times when we need a bucket, I have to get the ball,” the senior wing said. “My teammates, they feel like they can put the ball in my hands because they trust in me, and they feel that I’ll be able to come through in the clutch. I’ve missed a couple of shots in the past, but they keep depending on me, they keep having faith in me, so that gives me confidence to keep playing through and keep making shots.”
One of those shots came just two weeks earlier. After Dartmouth led for much of the game in Hanover, Harvard took a one-point lead with 12.4 seconds left. Barnett had a mid-range shot at the buzzer that could have won it, but it didn’t go and the Crimson escaped with a win.
In hindsight, Barnett’s third foul on Saturday night might have been a blessing in disguise. The biggest reason is that the Big Green never fell behind while he was out. But Dunn also saw something else that appeared to help.
“He was able to rest his legs for about 10 minutes, and seemed to be the freshest guy on the floor down the stretch,” said Dunn. “He was certainly the difference in the overtime.”
Over his career, Barnett has been overshadowed by others because his team has struggled. Most who are knowledgeable about the Ivy League feel he may be the best player, but he hasn’t received a lot of big honors because the Big Green have had just one double-digit win season thus far. A competitor of his for one of the top players in the league echoed that sentiment.
“Barnett’s a big-time player,” said Lin. “I think he could be Player of the Year if his team wins a lot more games down the road, but talent-wise, he’s one of, if not the, best players in the Ivy League.”
Barnett won a lot of games in high school at Cardinal Ritter in St. Louis, so the college years have been a little different. He was a coup for Dartmouth, a player talented enough to play at a little higher level (though not necessarily a high-major), and while he didn’t have a major impact as a freshman, he broke out as a sophomore. Both last season and thus far this year, he has greatly improved his jump shot, especially from long range where he’s now making about 41 percent of his three-point shots on the season.
Despite the lack of winning – Saturday’s win also broke an eight-game losing streak and is just the third of the season for the Big Green – Barnett has continued to play. He’s done so in much the same way that he’s continued to take the big shot for his team and has been the guy they go to when they need a basket.
“It’s been rough, coming from high school where we were known for winning,” Barnett reflected. “It was rough, but I love the game of basketball, so I’m not going to quit, I’m going to keep playing. I love it, that’s why I’m going to stick with it.”
Dunn noted that Barnett has been resilient, which the team needs if they are to have any chance of winning in the Ivy League. He needs help, and there are some other veterans on the team as well as a freshman with some very good potential in Jabari Trotter. While Barnett has to play well, his support cast does as well, and there’s some optimism on that front as Ivy League play gets set to begin in earnest next weekend as the back-to-back game nights commence.
“I love this team,” Barnett said. “The freshmen have been maturing, they’re developing. Other people are stepping up that have been here in the past.”
