CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Sometimes, “dominant” isn’t quite the word to describe how one team played in a game. Wednesday might have been one of those nights with the way Harvard man-handled Holy Cross 72-49 in their home opener in a game that wasn’t even that close.
The Crimson primarily won this game on defense, as Holy Cross’ 49 points might imply. More numbers show it as well, such as the Crusaders shooting below 40 percent from the field and committing 15 turnovers with just eight assists. However, that wasn’t all, and the primary numbers obscure how they did it. First and foremost, the Crimson’s transition defense was excellent all night long, rarely letting Holy Cross get a fast break chance.
At the offensive end, the Crimson did it inside and outside. Inside, the damage was done primarily by Keith Wright, who had 18 points on 6-8 shooting, with most of the damage coming in the second half after foul trouble limited him in the first half. When he went out, freshman Ugo Okam had some good minutes as he scored six points by making all three of his shots and added three blocks. Okam is raw, but has a good motor and a decent feel for the game, and with both he has a chance to develop into a nice player.
“He goes hard every day,” said sophomore guard Brandyn Curry. “Ugo’s done a great job coming in, learning all the sets and just doing what we ask of him. We tell him to go after every shot, he’s a tremendous shot-blocker.”
The Crimson are a little thin up front, so if Okam can give them good minutes while Kyle Casey rehabs from a broken foot, they should be in good shape later in the season. With Casey out, they have pressed sophomore Jeff Georgatos into starting duty after being a bit player last season. Georgatos has had some good moments thus far and certainly has been serviceable, but they will be better when they can have him come off the bench again.
Curry provided much of the production from the outside, though he was hardly alone. He had 10 points, 12 assists, a team-high seven rebounds and five steals, a stat line that stood out. Still, his stats only told part of the story.
“I’m looking at his line right now, and it’s just phenomenal,” said head coach Tommy Amaker. “He led us in rebounds, led us in assists, led us in steals, double-digit scorer. That’s an incredible stat line for a point guard.”
Besides his stats, Curry was the catalyst with his play at the top of the defense. He insists on guarding the opposing point guard to try to make life difficult for the other team, and that’s something he certainly did in this game as neither of Holy Cross’ point guards were very effective.
“I thought we were energized and excited, and it started a lot with Brandyn Curry,” added Amaker. “I thought his pressure on the ball setting the tone out front for our defense really lifted out ball club. I thought he was the catalyst for us.”
Curry had good help from Christian Webster (12 points) and Oliver McNally (10 points, five assists). McNally helps Curry with the point guard duties, an important spot for any team but perhaps more so for this team given that the Crimson lost a special player in Jeremy Lin from last season’s team. While none of them is Lin and no one player is expected to replace his production, if Curry plays like he did Tuesday as well as the latter part of last season, it will go a long way toward making up the lost production.
“What Brandyn does that Jeremy Lin did so well for us last year is he makes a lot of plays,” said McNally. “When things break down, you’re going to need a playmaker, and that’s what Brandyn does really well for us.”
For his part, Amaker wants Curry to stay in character and not try to be what he isn’t. Basically, he wants him to do what he did on Tuesday since that’s basically the role they have designated, which means he defends and makes plays for teammates. That shouldn’t prove to be a challenging task since it’s a lot of what he’s done as a college player.
Curry was a big part of why the Crimson ran away from Holy Cross. The Crimson did it first with their defense, and the offense followed as they built up large leads. They led by at least 20 points for all but the first minute of the second half, and the game didn’t seem as close as the final margin showed.
