Harvard Looks For First NCAA Tournament Bid Since 1946

BOSTON (CBS) – The Harvard Men's Basketball team has already done things no other Crimson hoops team has done before.

Harvard went 23-5 overall and 12-2 in the Ivy League during the regular season, setting new school records in wins and conference victories. They captured a share of the Ivy League title, Harvard's first ever, with a 79-67 win over Princeton last Saturday.

This weekend, the two teams meet up again with a trip to the NCAA tournament on the line.

"It wouldn't be right if it didn't come down to something like this, the way both teams have played this year," Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said.

This will be the third matchup this season between the two, with each winning on their home court. Now they head to a neutral site, Yale University in New Haven, CT for Saturday's one-game playoff.

"It's certainly going to be a tremendous challenge," Amaker said. "It's very fitting we were both able to win on our home floors, and now we have to do it on a neutral site. It's going to be tough, but I think both teams are anxious for the moment to see if we can be the representative of our conference in the NCAA tournament. We respect what they've done through the years, hopeful now it's our turn."

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"The key is who is going to be the hungrier team," sophomore guard Brandyn Curry said. "Obviously after the win we had here, they're going to come out with a lot of energy. We have to match it."

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"I think we know each others tendencies and key players," said sophomore forward Kyle Casey, who averaged 17.5 points in the two games against Princeton. "It's going to come down to the hard work and the grittiness of each team; it comes down to who fights the most."

It would be Harvard's first trip to the big dance since 1946.

"It's just our next goal," junior guard Oliver McNally said. "We have goals that we set at the beginning of the season, one to win the Ivy League, the other to get to tournament. We've accomplished something we wanted, but we have to keep going. We're not satisfied with where we are right now."

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"Everything is just magnified in these games," McNally said. "If you miss a box out, or miss a free throw; it's something you're not going to be thinking about it the next day. You're going to be thinking when you're an adult, thinking on your college career."