Must-Win Situation

The game against Northeastern (2-5, 1-0 America East) was the type of game Harvard has to win this season to gain any type of success. After coming off an emotional victory in its first Ivy League game against Dartmouth, the Crimson was unable to muster the same type of second-half intensity on Saturday when the Huskies didn't roll over like the Green did. Northeastern seemed to be easier bait, a non-conference team with one win and a losing history against Harvard (Harvard leads the series now 32-11).

Instead, Northeastern's experience up front, in the form of 6'10 junior center George Aygar and forward Tyrone Hammick, outlasted the Harvard offense. The Huskies finished with 11 blocks and 24 defensive rebounds.

"They've just got bona fide shot-blockers over there," Sullivan said. "They put more traffic inside in the second half and that hurt us."

Young at Heart

Sullivan can look at some of his younger players with satisfaction, however. Freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman has grown into an assertive and confident ball handler who has a penchant for razzle-dazzle. In one sequence in the second half, junior forward Bryan Parker missed a cut because of miscommunication and the play ended up in a turnover.

During the next stoppage of play, Prasse-Freeman went up to Parker and chewed the upperclassmen out in front of the 649 fans in Lavietes Pavilion.

While Prasse-Freeman's shooting is still suspect (4-of-12 on Saturday, including 0-of-3 from three-point range), his assist-to-turnover ratio has improved, going 9-to-7 against Northeastern. He continually impressed with no-look bounce passes inside that led to easy lay-ups, and while he made some ballhandling errors late in the second half, Sullivan said he isn't worried.

"He's going through it for the first time," Sullivan said. "In fact, all the freshmen, plus some of our other younger guys are going through a situation like this for the first time."