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Mack Drops 32 Points, Men’s Basketball Rallies Past UMass in Overtime, 78-75

AMHERST, Mass. – First-year guard Malik Mack scored a career-high 32 points, sophomore guard Chandler Piggé posted his first collegiate double-double on 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Harvard University men’s basketball rallied past Massachusetts in overtime, 78-75, on Friday night at the Mullins Center.
 
Facing a 37-28 deficit at halftime, the Crimson (4-0) came back to force six ties inside of the final 5:56 of regulation against the Minutemen (2-1), sending the game to overtime knotted at 70-70 before scoring six of the first seven points of the bonus session to defeat the hosts.
 
Harvard moved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season and improved to 27-5 in overtime under Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men’s Basketball.
 
Mack scored more points than any other first-year in NCAA Division I men’s basketball had scored entering Friday as the previous mark stood at 29 points. Piggé grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds as part of his first collegiate double-double, and junior guard Louis Lesmond netted 14 points and made a season-high four 3-pointers to round out the Crimson’s double-figure scorers.

Harvard Highlights

  • First-year guard Malik Mack scored a game and career-high 32 points on 10-of-23 field goals, 5-of-10 3-pointers, and 7-of-9 free throws alongside a game-high six assists. He has scored in double figures in all four games this season, netted 20 or more points for the third straight game and eclipsed the 30-point plateau for the first time.
  • Mack scored the most points for a first-year in a single game in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball entering the night. Entering Friday’s action, Notre Dame’s Markus Burton held the previous mark at 29 points vs. Niagara on Nov. 6.
  • Sophomore guard Chandler Piggé posted his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. He connected on 5-of-8 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws to go with three assists and two steals. He scored in double figures for the third straight game.
  • Junior guard Louis Lesmond netted 14 points on 5-of-9 field goals and a season-high 4-of-7 3-pointers along with four rebounds. He scored in double figures for the second straight game and finished in double figures for the ninth time in his career.
  • Sophomore forward Chisom Okpara tallied eight points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks while first-year forward Thomas Batties added seven points on 3-of-6 shooting.
  • The Crimson hit a season-best 11-of-24 3-pointers (45.8 percent), netting double-figure triples for the second straight game. Harvard made 9-of-15 treys between the second half and overtime.
  • Harvard improved to 27-5 in overtime under Tommy Amaker, The Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 Family Endowed Coach for Harvard Men’s Basketball.
  • In a week in which it faces three Bay State opponents, the Crimson won its second straight game against an in-state rival after beating Northeastern, 80-56, on Tuesday night. Harvard meets Boston College tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. to close the stretch.

Gallery: (11-17-2023) Men’s Basketball at Massachusetts

 

How It Happened

  • Harvard opened the game with a 12-9 lead at the 11:19 mark of the first half behind six points from Piggé.
  • After UMass took a 23-17 edge, the Crimson trimmed the margin to 25-23 with 3:18 left in the opening half behind six points from Mack.
  • The Crimson trailed the Minutemen, 37-28 at the break, as the hosts closed the half on a 12-5 run.
  • Harvard did not allow UMass to expand its lead throughout the second half, eventually tying the game at 57-57 with 5:56 left in regulation. As part of a 9-2 run, Mack hit a pair of 3-pointers and Lesmond knocked down a triple.
  • The two teams battled down the stretch of regulation with Harvard forcing five more ties after Massachusetts took the lead. A 3-pointer from Batties II knotted the score at 65-65 with 2L08 left, another 3-pointer from Mack tied it at 68-68 at 54 seconds, and a layup from Mack with 18 seconds on the clock forced overtime with the score even at 70-70.
  • Back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime from Lesmond and Mack gave Harvard a 76-71 edge with 2:30 left. A pair of free throws from Piggé kept the margin at 78-73 with 1:20 to go, and the Crimson stopped UMass when it needed after the hosts pulled within 78-75 with 33 seconds remaining.

Postgame Quotes

“To come back – to fight our way and claw our way back against an outstanding team, a tough team – I’m really proud of our guys for how we hung in there. We did what we needed to do to hang and then things started to fall our way a little bit to put ourselves in position to win.” – Tommy Amaker
 
“Malik is an outstanding young player. You saw how tough it was early for him. I’m really pleased that he didn’t go in a downward spiral because it didn’t go his way early. He just kept fighting and believing in himself. His teammates kept him up. He’s going to be a marked guy. I’m very impressed with his composure overall.” – Tommy Amaker
 
“Chandler has been our go-to guy in terms of being composed and poised. He’s delivered in terms of production. He’s maybe our most valuable player in a lot of different ways.” – Tommy Amaker

Next Up

Harvard plays at Boston College on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+/ACCNX) before playing at Colgate on Wednesday, Nov. 22 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

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