CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior Isaac Dobie tied for game-high honors with 17 points and sophomore Jackson Weiland finished one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, as the MIT men's basketball team opened the season with a 79-50 exhibition loss to crosstown Division I rival Harvard University on Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion.
THE BASICS:
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- An early MIT lead came courtesy of Dobie, as a pair of free throws and a put-back layup from the junior gave the Engineers a 4-0 advantage. The Crimson quickly erased the advantage on the strength of a Robert Hinton jumper, and a Chandler Pigge steal and score to tie the game.
- Rome Delgado-Gonzalez responded for MIT on its next possession, but back-to-back triples from Tey Barbour ignited a 12-0 Harvard run that saw the Crimson take a 16-6 lead at the 13:12 mark of the first.
- Dobie stopped the run with a pull-up jumper at 12:40, the first of three straight MIT baskets that closed the deficit back to four points, 16-12, when Delgado-Gonzalez fought his way to the bucket for a layup at 11:39.
- MIT continued to hang around through the midway point of the first half as a Weiland layup at 7:21 trimmed the deficit back to four after Harvard had opened up an eight-point lead.
- The final seven minutes of the first half belonged to Harvard, as the Crimson opened up a 34-16 lead thanks to a 14-0 run. A slick reverse layup from Weiland got MIT back on the board before the half as Harvard to a 34-18 lead at the break.
- Harvard attacked the basket to start the second half, forcing MIT into six fouls in the opening four minutes, as the Crimson knocked down 6-of-8 free throws while extending its advantage to as many as 26 points, 52-26, at the 13:34 mark.
- MIT wasn't fazed by the Harvard lead as the Engineers continued to grind, responding with an 8-0 run that included an emphatic layup-and-one from Dobie at 12:06, to cut the deficit to 18 points at 52-34 at 11:34.
- Harvard would eventually extend its lead back to 26 points, at 64-38, following a transition three from Barbour at 8:27 and a post layup from Thomas Batties II at 7:32.
- The Crimson lead would extend to as many as 31 points in the second half, as MIT's front line had to contest with foul trouble throughout the second twenty minutes.
- Harvard eventually closed out the victory but a pair of free throws from Weiland in the final minute dropped the MIT deficit under 30 points, as the Crimson won the 79-50.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Friday's game was the 49th all-time meeting between MIT and Harvard and the first match-up since 2021. The first match-up in the series took place in 1901.
- MIT out-rebounded the Crimson in the first half, 22-19, but could not find the range from distance, shooting 0-14 from three.
- It took one attempt for the Engineers to snap the skid in the second half as Dobie knocked down a triple 1:05 into the second session. MIT finished the second half 3-for-14 from range.
- Mike Ewing and Delgado-Gonzalez added nine and eight points, respectively, for MIR
- Thomas Batties II was the high scorer for Harvard with 17 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
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