Opening Night: Harvard Beat MIT 73-45 to Start Tommy Amaker's 20th Season, and BU Took the Northeastern Rivalry 93-85 at Case Gym

College basketball is back in Boston, and opening night was a good one for the home teams.

<h3>Harvard 73, MIT 45</h3>

The battle of Massachusetts Avenue went how you'd expect when a Division I team hosts a Division III one. Harvard beat MIT 73-45 at Lavietes Pavilion on Monday night, The Harvard Crimson reported.

It also marked the start of Tommy Amaker's 20th season in Cambridge. Harvard came in ranked 12th in CollegeInsider's Mid-Major Top 25.

It wasn't instant. MIT freshman guard Steele Labagh tied it 4-4 three minutes in. Then Harvard took off with seven straight points, capped by a Tey Barbour dunk off a Robert Hinton assist. A little later came a 15-0 run that pushed the lead to 20. Freshman Jason Singleton, who scored 23 in Harvard's exhibition against UMass, picked off a pass and dunked it himself with just under 12 minutes left in the half.

MIT had its moments. Senior center Wyatt Mowery broke up one Harvard run with a layup off a feed from senior guard Isaac Dobie, the Crimson reported, and the MIT section loved an early Labagh layup that came after two offensive rebounds. The Engineers worked the paint early, and Harvard's defense adjusted.

In the first half, Harvard's 22 points in the paint were led by senior forward Luca Ace-Nasteski going 3-for-4 down low. Hinton went 4-for-6 from the line. MIT committed eight first-half fouls, and Harvard shot 8-for-10 at the stripe and 41.2 percent from the field compared with MIT's 28.6.

Harvard led 39-22 at halftime. The Crimson kept MIT at 29.2 percent shooting in the second half, and the Engineers fouled fast enough to put Harvard in the bonus with just under 13 minutes left, which kept MIT on its heels defensively.

<h3>The numbers</h3>

Per the Crimson's box-score rundown:

Harvard outshot MIT 40.6 percent to 28.8 percent from the field and 73.7 percent to 66.7 percent from the line.

MIT turned it over 20 times, and Harvard scored 18 points off those turnovers.

Harvard outscored MIT 34-14 in the paint.

Seventeen different Harvard players got minutes, including freshmen Julian Adigan, Brandon Burrell and Preston Merrick.

The areas to work on are real: 31.8 percent from three and 11 turnovers of its own, the Crimson noted. In the second half the two teams were about even on threes (4-for-11 for Harvard and 4-for-12 for MIT), rebounds (21 and 19) and fouls (nine apiece).

<h3>Barbour's night</h3>

Barbour had eight first-half points on two threes and shot 75 percent in that half. Afterward he talked defense: 'There were times when we had definitely had lapses on defense, but these were times when we came together and really strengthened,' he said. 'Last year we had a really good defensive cohesive unit. We're building that right now.'

He also credited junior point guard Ben Eisendrath: 'On offense, we have a great leader in Ben Eisendrath at point guard. He makes sure every huddle, every time he comes to the court, that he's loud and vocal, and everybody knows exactly what we're in.'

On the depth: 'We have a great group. I mean every one of them brings something great to the team.'

<h3>What's next for Harvard</h3>

Harvard heads to Chicago to face Division III University of Chicago on Nov. 8, a homecoming for captain Xavier Nesbitt and senior guard Payton Pitts, the Crimson reported. It's the first time UChicago has hosted a Division I opponent since 1970. After a four-game road swing, Harvard hosts Boston College at Lavietes on Nov. 17. Mark that one.

<h3>BU 93, Northeastern 85</h3>

Across the river, Boston University opened at Case Gymnasium on Monday night and beat Northeastern 93-85, per BU Athletics and the Associated Press. Junior Azmar Abdullah scored 21 with seven rebounds, senior Kyrone Alexander added 19 and seven boards, and Sam Hughes went 7-for-11 for 15, AP reported. BU led 46-36 at the half. A 14-4 Northeastern run gave the Huskies their first lead since the early minutes, 75-73 with 6:23 to play, and then BU closed on a 13-2 run, per BU Athletics. Rashad King led Northeastern with 21 and Dorian Grosber had 18. BU visits Brown on Friday, Nov. 6. Northeastern plays at Virginia.

<h3>Dez's take</h3>

MIT was never going to win this, and that's fine. The Engineers showed up and made Harvard work for the first three minutes. What matters is Harvard went 17 deep and still won by 28. Amaker in year 20 with that kind of depth is a problem for the Ivy League. The Nov. 17 BC game at Lavietes is the first real test. BU dropping 93 in a rivalry game is the kind of opening statement I like. Boston hoops is back, y'all.