There were several little things to which Scott could have been referring.
The Crimson came into the weekend with Ivy’s top two rebounders in junior center Brian Cusworth and Stehle, 9.8 and 8.4 per game, respectively, and the league’s number two rebounding offense.
The Tigers, on the other hand, came in dead last on both the offensive and defensive glass, and it showed.
“There are rebounds that are there to be had, and when they’re there to be had, you have to get them. That’s winning. That’s winning basketball,” Scott said.
Princeton grabbed only 17 rebounds—to Harvard’s 29—and gave up nine crucial second-chance points in the second half. The Crimson’s final put back—a Brian Cusworth layup off a feed by senior point guard David Giovacchini that put the Crimson up 54-50 with 1:05 to play—gave it some breathing room for the first time since the opening minute of the half.
Another enormous little thing for the Crimson was its foul shooting. After converting only 11 of its first 18 attempts from the line, the squad hit eight of its final nine to seal the victory, including the four from Stehle and 3-of-4 by sophomore guard Jim Goffredo.
Princeton, which came into the game atop the Ivies and ninth in the nation with a 76-percent success rate from the line, hit only 7-of-13. Scott Greenman, the Tigers’ junior guard who buried the Crimson with clutch three-pointers in both tilts last year, missed all three of his foul shots, including a pair that could have given Princeton the lead with 3:05 to play.
Finally, turnovers—which had been Harvard’s Achilles heel in close games earlier this year—were not a game-breaker for the Crimson. The team gave the ball away only 14 times, five less than their average number coming in.
“[Turnovers were] critical to the success in today’s game,” Giovacchini said. “We took care of the ball when we needed to.”
POINTS IN THE PAINT
Giovacchini led the Crimson in assists again, this time dishing out six helpers. He is second in the Ivies with 4.3 assists per game...Kevin Rogus got off 12 threes, converting on five of them, despite Scott’s claim that his team “[was not] supposed to let Rogus get off one three-point shot.”...Seventy-eight percent (95-of-122) of Greenman’s field goal attempts this year have been from long range, including five of six Saturday night...Rogus, who led the team with 17 points, has attempted 121 of his 146 field goals from downtown—a clip of 83 percent—including 12-of-14 against the Tigers...Princeton opened 1-3 in conference play for the first time since 1994-1995 and got swept on its trip to Hanover and Cambridge for the first time since 1983-1984. It finished both seasons 10-4...The Crimson improved to 6-0 when leading at the break. It is 2-11 when trailing...Harvard came in to the game 0-10 when scoring fewer than 67 points.
—Staff writer Gregory B. Michnikov can be reached at michnik@fas.harvard.edu.