SALT LAKE CITY — This time, there was no history to be made.
The Harvard men’s basketball team, which recorded the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history by upsetting third-seeded New Mexico Thursday, fell woefully short of a repeat performance Saturday, suffering a 74-51 loss to sixth-seeded Arizona in the third round of the NCAA West Regional at EnergySolutions Arena.
Harvard, which shot lights out in its 68-62 second-round victory over the Lobos (52 percent from the field, 44 percent from 3-point range), came nowhere close to matching those numbers against Arizona, which never looked back after the Crimson missed their first 13 shots.
By then it was evident the end of the season was nigh for the Crimson (20-10), and that Arizona (27-7), which finished second in the Pac-12 regular-season standings, was clearly deserving of a higher seed.
Senior guard Mark Lyons, a transfer from Xavier, led the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 berth in Los Angeles by tying his career high with 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting (3 of 6 from the 3-point arc).
It’s Arizona’s 15th trip to the Sweet 16.
Harvard, which shot only 28 percent from the field (16 of 58), had only one player in double figures: sophomore forward Kenyatta Smith with 10 points.
Unlike the upset of New Mexico — in which Harvard led for all but 1 minute 34 seconds — the Crimson were unable to gain any traction against Arizona.
Harvard’s nightmare start allowed the bigger and more athletic Wildcats to streak to a 17-2 lead before Siyani Chambers connected for the Crimson’s first field goal, a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 12:15 left in the half.
Nick Johnson answered with a three to give Arizona a 20-5 lead. Steve Moundou-Missi, who led the Crimson with 9 first-half points, went hard to the basket and made both foul shots, but Solomon Hill buried another trey to expand Arizona’s lead to 23-7.
After 7-foot, 255-pound freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski powered his way into the paint for a layup, Christian Webster tallied Harvard’s first basket in the paint when he tipped in a third-chance basket, cutting Arizona’s lead to 25-9.
But Hill squashed any hopes Harvard had of gaining a foothold when he buried another trey, and then followed with a backcourt steal and tomahawk dunk that inflated Arizona’s lead to 30-9.
Kenyatta Smith connected on a contested turnaround hook to pull Harvard within 19. Saunders added a pair of foul shots to make it 30-13.
Lyons tallied on a layup and then answered Saunders’s turnaround lane jumper with a strong baseline cut to the basket for a 34-15 lead with 4:36 to go.
Tarczewski, the former St. Mark’s School standout from Claremont, N.H., increased Arizona’s lead to 21 with his layup with 4:04 to go in the half.
Moundou-Missi scored Harvard’s last 7 points of the half to pull his team within 18 at the break, 40-22.
© Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.
The Harvard men’s basketball team, which recorded the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history by upsetting third-seeded New Mexico Thursday, fell woefully short of a repeat performance Saturday, suffering a 74-51 loss to sixth-seeded Arizona in the third round of the NCAA West Regional at EnergySolutions Arena.
Harvard, which shot lights out in its 68-62 second-round victory over the Lobos (52 percent from the field, 44 percent from 3-point range), came nowhere close to matching those numbers against Arizona, which never looked back after the Crimson missed their first 13 shots.
By then it was evident the end of the season was nigh for the Crimson (20-10), and that Arizona (27-7), which finished second in the Pac-12 regular-season standings, was clearly deserving of a higher seed.
Senior guard Mark Lyons, a transfer from Xavier, led the Wildcats to a Sweet 16 berth in Los Angeles by tying his career high with 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting (3 of 6 from the 3-point arc).
It’s Arizona’s 15th trip to the Sweet 16.
Harvard, which shot only 28 percent from the field (16 of 58), had only one player in double figures: sophomore forward Kenyatta Smith with 10 points.
Unlike the upset of New Mexico — in which Harvard led for all but 1 minute 34 seconds — the Crimson were unable to gain any traction against Arizona.
Harvard’s nightmare start allowed the bigger and more athletic Wildcats to streak to a 17-2 lead before Siyani Chambers connected for the Crimson’s first field goal, a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 12:15 left in the half.
Nick Johnson answered with a three to give Arizona a 20-5 lead. Steve Moundou-Missi, who led the Crimson with 9 first-half points, went hard to the basket and made both foul shots, but Solomon Hill buried another trey to expand Arizona’s lead to 23-7.
After 7-foot, 255-pound freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski powered his way into the paint for a layup, Christian Webster tallied Harvard’s first basket in the paint when he tipped in a third-chance basket, cutting Arizona’s lead to 25-9.
But Hill squashed any hopes Harvard had of gaining a foothold when he buried another trey, and then followed with a backcourt steal and tomahawk dunk that inflated Arizona’s lead to 30-9.
Kenyatta Smith connected on a contested turnaround hook to pull Harvard within 19. Saunders added a pair of foul shots to make it 30-13.
Lyons tallied on a layup and then answered Saunders’s turnaround lane jumper with a strong baseline cut to the basket for a 34-15 lead with 4:36 to go.
Tarczewski, the former St. Mark’s School standout from Claremont, N.H., increased Arizona’s lead to 21 with his layup with 4:04 to go in the half.
Moundou-Missi scored Harvard’s last 7 points of the half to pull his team within 18 at the break, 40-22.
© Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.