Harvard did it again. A year after upsetting the New Mexico Lobos, the No. 12-seeded Crimson earned a 61-57 win over No. 5 Cincinnati in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
NCAA Tournament scores, Harvard vs. Cincinnati: Crimson play spoiler again
Harvard had its way with Cincinnati, coming away with an upset victory with balanced scoring and paint protection.
Sophomore guard Siyani Chambers shot just 2-for-10 from the field for Harvard, but provided some heroics. His off-the-dribble jumper with less than two minutes left put Harvard up by three, and his steal from Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick with less than a minute left all but sealed it. Chambers finished with 11 points.
Wesley Saunders led the Crimson in scoring with 12 points, but it was a total team effort. Senior guard Laurent Rivard added 11, shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, and Steve Moundou-Missi and Brandyn Curry had nine apiece.
Kilpatrick finished with a game-high 18 points for Cincinnati. The 24-year-old fifth-year senior shot 6-for-13 from the field, 3-for-6 from downtown. Bearcats senior forward Justin Jackson added 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
The Crimson jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first nine minutes, and Cincinnati was playing catch-up from there. Harvard took a seven-point lead into halftime, and while the Bearcats’ second-half run made it tight down the stretch, they could never get over the hump.
Cincinnati’s defense has carried the team all season, but it could not compensate for a nearly six-minute stretch without a field goal in the second half and 36.8 percent shooting overall.
See More:
