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No. 24 Harvard routs Boston College

Dec 30, 2011 - 2:46 AM Chestnut Hill, MA (Sports Network) - Laurent Rivard scored 18 points, as No. 24 Harvard earned a 67-46 win over Boston College on Thursday night.

Corbin Miller added 12 points, Brandyn Curry had 11 and Christian Webster finished with 10 for the Crimson (11-1), whose lone loss this season came at then-No. 9 Connecticut. Keith Wright chipped in eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Dennis Clifford paced the Eagles (5-8) with 14 points, while Patrick Heckmann had 13 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Harvard, which entered the week with the nation's 13th ranked scoring defense, held Boston College to just 13 second-half points on 4-of-22 shooting, including an 0-of-7 effort from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Crimson improved to 2-1 all-time as an Associated Press Top-25 team. Their first-ever ranking came early this season, when they fell to UConn on December 8 before downing Boston University two days later as the 25th-ranked team in the nation.

Harvard has leaned on its stalwart defense to gain national prominence. The squad had allowed 60-plus points just four times this season and Thursday's contest proved no different.

The Eagles opened the contest with a 14-3 run. They shot 63.6 percent and went 3-of-4 from three-point range in the first half, but trailed 40-33 at the break. The Crimson held a 9-2 advantage from the charity stripe and attempted eight more shots in the opening 20 minutes, then stunted the BC attack in a dominant second half.

In all, Harvard led by as many as 19 points after the break, cruising to its fourth straight win over Boston College.

Game Notes

This was the 44th all-time meeting between the schools. The Eagles own a 31-13 series lead...The Crimson's No. 25 ranking earlier this season marked the first time an Ivy League team was ranked in the AP poll since Princeton came in at No. 8 in the final poll of the 1997-98 season...Harvard entered the week allowing 55.0 points per game.