Harvard knocked out of NCAA by Vanderbilt in first round

Earlier this season, many thought the Harvard Crimson had a legitimate shot at advancing deep into the NCAA tournament — at least deeper than usual Ivy contender.

Not yet. In its first tourney appearance since 1946, Harvard fell, 79-70, to SEC tournament champion Vanderbilt in Albuquerque, N.M. The Crimson played Vandy close through much of the first half, but the Commodores pulled away before the break, thanks to a 13-0 run. Harvard was able to narrow the deficit to five with just a minute and a half left, but couldn't close the gap.

BOX SCORE: Vanderbilt 79, Harvard 70

Crimson sophomore Laurent Rivard led Harvard with 20 points. Forwards Keith Wright and Kyle Casey scored eight and 13 points, respectively. Wright added nine rebounds. Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins scored 27, shooting 7-for-12.

It will still be a banner season for Harvard. The Crimson cracked the Top-25 rankings for several weeks, and captured their first-ever outright Ivy League title.