Harvard dominates Seattle U., 92-71

SEATTLE —

The shooting statistics pretty much told the story of Harvard's 92-71 win over Seattle University on Saturday at KeyArena.

The visiting Crimson hit 34 of 58, 58.6 percent, while Seattle U. made just 26 of 68, 38.2.

And afterward, the coaches pretty much agreed that there was a simple reason for that stat — Harvard attempted better shots all afternoon.

"They took way better shots than we took," said Seattle U. coach Cameron Dollar, who then took the blame for that fact. "We've got to shoot better shots than that. That's my fault. I needed to do a better job of getting them in the right spots so they could get better shots."

It was Seattle U.'s fourth loss in a row, dropping the Redhawks to 6-9, while Harvard, which came in with a 24 rating in the RPI, improved to 10-3.

It was a day that began with high hopes as a crowd of 4,619 piled into the Key, the second-largest attendance of the season for the Redhawks, playing their first full season of Division I basketball since 1980.

But the good feeling faded fast as Harvard jumped out to an 8-3 lead and never let up. Ahead 34-20 with 8:18 left, Harvard went on a 12-0 run to take a 46-20 lead with 5:26 left in the first half.

"We haven't played that poor energy-wise in a while," Dollar said.

The Redhawks at least put up a fight, going on a 15-0 run spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to cut the lead to 52-41 with 17:24 left in the game. But after a timeout, Harvard scored seven in a row and the issue was never in doubt again.

Harvard hit 17 of its first 23 shots and had a balanced attack with three players scoring in double figures in the first half and four for the game. Senior guard Jeremy Lin scored 21 points and freshman forward Kyle Casey had 19 off the bench.

"We attacked their pressure very well," said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, noting Harvard had 13 assists on 21 made shots in the first half. "We talked about making the extra pass, letting the shot find you, and I thought that was very evident the way our kids played in the first half."

Seattle U. was led by the 19 points of junior forward Charles Garcia, whose presence drew five NBA scouts to the arena. But he hit just 6 for 16 field goals while facing constant double teams and also made just 7 of 15 free throws.

Garcia admitted he is having to adjust his game in the face of all the extra attention he is getting after a hot start that saw him emerge as one of the surprise players in the nation.

"It can get frustrating at times, don't get me wrong," he said of the double, and sometimes triple, teams he gets. "But I've just got to stay poised and find my open (teammates) and stop turning the ball over. I'm averaging four turnovers — that's not good. And I've just got to be more relaxed."

But he wasn't alone in struggling from the floor and the line as the Redhawks hit just 3 of 12 three-pointers and only 16 of 35 free throws.

Seattle U. will be in action next on Wednesday night at Oregon State.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

HARVARD (10-3)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Miller	7	1-1	0-0	0-3	0	2	2
Wright	28	8-13	0-0	1-5	0	2	16
Webster	37	3-9	5-6	2-5	5	1	12
Lin	30	8-9	4-5	0-2	3	4	21
McNally	22	2-6	4-4	0-4	2	4	8
Curry	28	2-6	2-2	0-3	6	2	7
Van Nest	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Giger	9	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Casey	23	7-10	4-4	3-6	3	5	19
Magnarelli	14	3-3	1-2	0-3	0	2	7
	200	34-58	20-23	8-40	19	24	92

Percentages: FG .586, FT .870. Three-point goals: 4-11, .364 (Lin 1-1, Casey 1-2, Curry 1-2, Webster 1-2, Giger 0-1, McNally 0-3). Team rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 5 (Wright 3, Curry, Magnarelli). Turnovers: 19 (Lin 5, Curry 3, Webster 3, Casey 2, McNally 2, Wright 2, Giger, Miller). Steals: 10 (Lin 4, Webster 3, Giger, Magnarelli, Wright). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE (6-9)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Boxley	26	2-8	1-4	2-5	1	3	6
Broussard	17	2-6	0-0	1-2	0	3	5
Garcia	27	6-16	7-15	5-10	0	3	19
Burrell	22	0-2	1-2	1-1	1	0	1
Gweth	30	6-18	5-9	3-7	2	2	17
Lever	20	2-2	1-3	1-1	1	4	5
Olson	16	2-6	0-0	0-1	0	2	4
PHarris	16	0-2	0-0	2-2	1	0	0
DHarris	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Gilmore	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Jones	18	6-7	1-2	4-6	0	3	14
	200	26-68	16-35	20-38	6	20	71

Percentages: FG .382, FT .457. Three-point goals: 3-12, .250 (Jones 1-1, Broussard 1-2, Boxley 1-3, P.Harris 0-1, Gweth 0-2, Olson 0-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Boxley). Turnovers: 16 (Gweth 5, Garcia 4, Burrell 3, Jones 2, Boxley, P.Harris). Steals: 12 (Boxley 4, Burrell 3, P.Harris, Lever, Gweth, Broussard, D.Harris). Technical fouls: None.

Harvard	52	40	—	92
Seattle	31	40	—	71

Attendance: 4,619. Officials: Mark Cook, Jason Schaefer, Doug Sturdivan.