The Harvard Crimson was crushed by the Arizona Wildcats 65-55 in the third round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16. Arizona made sure to cut any possible Cinderella story or upset with a strong offensive performance.
Arizona guard, Mark Lyons, was active on both ends of the floor as he knocked down 11-16 shots totaling 27 points with three assists and a steal in the game.
It was slaughter from the start as Arizona took advantage of a weak start from Harvard. At one point in the first period, Harvard was shooting just 1-14. On a night where Arizona was shooting almost 57 percent, Harvard couldn't afford to have this horrible of a shooting night.
At the beginning of the second half, Harvard was 10-35 from the floor, with bench player Steve Moundou-Missi having the most productive night shooting 3-6. With 14 minutes to play in the game, he was the only player at 50 percent shooting. However, as the game progressed, Missi's game deteriorated as well as Harvard's shooting percentage, which kept dropping and no player was with over five shots had a percentage of over 44 percent. They finished the game shooting exactly 30 percent.
Arizona didn't want any drama. They are No. 6 in the West Region and Harvard coming in as the No. 14 seed had upset No. 3 New Mexico Lobos in the second round of the tournament. Arizona put this one away five minutes into the game as they were up 10-2. Give minutes later, they doubled their lead as the scoreboard read 23-7.
By the end of the second half, after playing consistent ball in the closing minutes of the first period, Arizona led 40-22. Harvard was matching their production in the second half, but it was too big of a lead to climb and the Wildcats, with their height advantage, had no problem keeping their lead.
Up ahead for Arizona, they will take on either No. 10 Iowa State or No. 2 Ohio State in the Sweet 16.
