PHILADELPHIA — With four straight conference championships, the suggestion that the Harvard men’s basketball team is becoming the New England Patriots of the Ivy League isn’t really that much of a stretch.
The Crimson, who just a week ago were 1-1 in the league, are now 3-1 after drilling Penn, 63-38, Saturday night at the basketball palace known as the Palestra.
“Oh, you gotta ask that,’’ Harvard coach Tommy Amaker cracked after the NFL comparison was suggested. “We’re trying to be just Harvard. Obviously we think the world of the Patriots, what they’ve accomplished and how great they are and being in our area and from our home state.”
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By this time next week, the Crimson could be the lead horse in the race for this year’s Ivy title, as Harvard plays at Yale (4-0) next Saturday.
Against Penn, the Crimson broke out of the gate to take a 10-2 lead, were ahead 21 by halftime, and led by as many as 33 in the second half.
In Harvard’s win over Princeton on Friday night, Corbin Miller and Jonah Travis came off the bench to combine for 33 points.
A day later, it was starting guards Siyani Chambers and Wesley Saunders doing much of the damage. They combined to score 25 points (on 9-of-18 shooting), with 8 assists, 3 steals, and just 1 turnover.
The home loss to Dartmouth last weekend now seems like it took place a long time ago.
“Last week we took things a little lightly,’’ forward Steve Moundou-Missi offered. “This week in practice the emphasis was on the realization that on any given night teams are going to come at us strong to beat us.
“We have to make sure we stay disciplined and play 40 minutes.’’
Moundou-Missi played 24 minutes against Penn, scoring 10 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
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Forward Agunwa Okolie was the other Crimson player to score in double figures, with 10 points, while Travis came up big again with 8 points and 10 boards in 25 minutes.
“I thought we played a tremendous 40 minutes of basketball,’’ Amaker said. “I was really impressed and pleased, first of all, with the effort the kids brought on the defensive end. I thought they played with discipline, particularly on the road, and I thought we were pretty efficient offensively.’’
Harvard shot 49 percent from the field, made half of its eight 3-point attempts, and enjoyed a 37-25 edge in rebounds.
Penn shot just 30 percent overall and 47 percent from the free throw line (8 of 17).
The weekend sweep at Penn and Princeton was a rarity for Harvard. It had won both nights down here only twice since league play began in 1956.
Amaker felt getting off to the quick start was key, especially for the second game of the weekend.
“It allowed our kids to have some confidence, and I thought we played with incredible unselfishness, which is another one of the trademarks with what we’ve tried to accomplish with our program. I thought our kids were focused and ready.’’
Penn coach Jerome Allen couldn’t agree more, though he did allude he was somewhat taken aback by the young Quakers’ trip to the woodshed. While Harvard lifted its overall record to 13-5, Penn fell to 6-11, 1-2 in the Ivy.
“They came out ready to play,’’ Allen said. “That could be a function of the core of that group having the experience of winning. They know what it takes to win. They’re familiar with the schedule of back-to-back games.
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“For us, we’re trying to learn how to win.’’
Harvard, you might say, has that down pat.