Stunner: No. 14 seed Harvard schools New Mexico

SALT LAKE CITY — Give those Harvard kids an A-plus in another subject: Bracketbusting 101.

Wesley Saunders scored 18 points, and Laurent Rivard made five 3-pointers to help the 14th-seeded Crimson pull the biggest upset in Thursday’s flurry of NCAA Tournament games, a 68-62 win over No. 3 New Mexico.

The university where John Adams, Teddy Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy earned degrees was making just its third trip to the tournament — and it never had won — though the Ivy League advanced in 2010 when a Cornell team made the regional semifinals.

Reaction, not surprisingly given the school and the moment, came quickly and from various corners.

“America, we are sorry for messing up your brackets and also your financial system and everything else,” tweeted the jokesters at the Harvard Lampoon.

But this was no laughing matter. And it was anything but a fluke.

The Crimson (20-9) put the clamps down on New Mexico’s Tony Snell, holding him to nine points on 4-for-12 shooting after he dominated in the Mountain West tournament. They banged inside with Lobos big men Cameron Bairstow and Alex Kirk, whose 22 points provided New Mexico’s only consistent offense.

Mostly, they showed none of the jitters that marked their trip to the tournament last year, a 79-70 loss to Vanderbilt in Harvard’s first NCAA appearance since 1946.

Rivard went 6 of 7 from 3 in that one — played on New Mexico’s home court in The Pit — and clearly was pumped for an encore.

He was 5 of 9 this time, with three of them coming in the first half, while Harvard was holding a small lead and, more importantly, answering every surge the Lobos (29-6) threw at them. Rivard finished with 17 points.

“I hit my first one, and you know, you hit the shot, and then you keep shooting after that, and then I hit another one, so I knew it was going to be a good game after that,” Rivard said.

Christian Webster was more of a role player last year but jumped to the fore in 2013; he finished with 11 points and was gesturing after each of his three made 3s, even pointing to his forehead after making one from the corner in the first half.

Yep, these smart kids really can play.

“We battled a really good basketball team in a tough environment,” coach Tommy Amaker said. “I’m very proud of our guys.”

Amaker outcoached his contemporary, Steve Alford, exacting revenge of sorts for the time Alford’s Indiana team beat Amaker and Duke back in the 1987 regional semifinals.