"Inexperience reared its ugly head in the second half," Sullivan said. "We weren't particularly effective defensively in the half."

Defense wasn't the only thing that suffered as the game wore down. Although the Crimson shot a decent 46.7 percent from the field in the first half, it stumbled in the second, shooting only 32.6 percent.

The Huskies, on the other hand, dominated the half with an impressive 65.4 percent effort. Northeastern's performance was a far cry from Harvard's previous opponent.

"After the first half, Dartmouth rolled over," said captain Damian Long of the upset win over the Big Green on Wednesday. "Northeastern didn't."

Despite its struggles, the Crimson managed to come within four points with only 2:19 left after freshman forward Sam Winter hit a jumper from the baseline.

Harvard would get no closer, however, as Northeastern pulled away at the close of the game by making key free fouls and capitalizing on two poor Harvard passes from freshman point guard Elliott Prasse-Freeman and sophomore guard Andrew Gellert.

Despite the losing effort, the Crimson looked sharp in the first half.