2011–12 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team
The 2011–12 Harvard Crimson men's basketball team represented Harvard University in the Ivy League athletic conference during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Boston, Massachusetts at the Lavietes Pavilion, located across the Charles River from the university's main campus in Cambridge with a capacity of 2,195. The team was led by fifth-year head coach Tommy Amaker and senior co-captains Keith Wright and Oliver McNally.
| 2011–12 Harvard Crimson men's basketball | |
|---|---|
NCAA tournament, Round of 64 | |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Record | 26–5 (12–2 Ivy League) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Captains |
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| Home arena | Lavietes Pavilion |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harvard | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 26 | – | 5 | .839 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn | 11 | – | 3 | .786 | 20 | – | 13 | .606 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Princeton | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yale | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 19 | – | 10 | .655 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cornell | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 12 | – | 16 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbia | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 15 | – | 15 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brown | 2 | – | 12 | .143 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 1 | – | 13 | .071 | 5 | – | 25 | .167 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of March 15, 2012 Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harvard began the season 8–0, the best start by an Ivy League team since Columbia won its first ten games to begin the 1969-70 season. On December 5, 2011, Harvard made its first-ever appearances in the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll, ranking 25th and 24th, respectively. The season included two wins against teams in the powerhouse Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Harvard set a school record with 26 wins during the season and tied a school record for conference wins with 12. Its 14 non-conference wins also tied an Ivy League record previously held by the 2009-10 Cornell Big Red. The season culminated in an invitation to the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, where Harvard lost in the second round. It was Harvard's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1946 and third consecutive appearance in a postseason tournament. Junior Kyle Casey was a first-team All-Ivy selection, while junior Brandyn Curry and senior Keith Wright earned second-team recognition.