Harvard’s men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker is familiar with Michigan basketball.

Amaker is accustomed to playing at Crisler Arena and has first-hand experience working with the Wolverines’ program. In fact, Amaker has won more games in Ann Arbor than Michigan coach John Beilein and Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez have, combined.

Amaker coached the Wolverines for seven years. With them, he won an NIT title and accrued a 109-83 record while posting four winning seasons. In March of 2007, Amaker was fired by the Michigan Athletic department and in April of 2007 Beilein had been hired to replace him.

On Saturday, Amaker — for the first time — returns to Crisler Arena to take on Michigan (4-2). In 2007, Amaker coached his first game against the Wolverines and won 62-51 in Boston.

In a teleconference on Thursday morning, Amaker said that he is not nervous about how the fans at Crisler Arena greet him. He is just excited to play Michigan because it’ll be a tough game for his program.

Harvard (5-1) is on a five-game winning streak since losing to George Mason 66-53 in its opening game. Like Michigan, the Crimson boasts a roster without any seniors. Junior forward Keith Wright and sophomore guard Christian Webster have led Harvard to its best start under Amaker.

Wright and Webster have each averaged 16 points a game and have accounted for more than 45 percent of the Crimson’s scoring this season. Most recently, Webster tallied 18 points and a team-high four rebounds to blowout Fordham 80-57.

But an explosive offense is nothing that the Wolverines have to worry about. Michigan has showed that it can compete against big time shooters and even hang in games against top-notch defenses.

The Wolverines are arguably coming off the best week of their season. Even though it has lost two of its last three games, Michigan nearly pulled off an upset against No. 9 Syracuse. The Orange beat Michigan 53-50 after the Wolverines led by two going into halftime. On Tuesday, Michigan defeated Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum 69-61 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge — a game that the Tigers were favored in.

Freshman guard Evan Smotrycz led the Wolverines with a game-high 18 points and six rebounds. Freshman guard Tim Hardaway Jr. also helped heist the upset victory by adding 15 points of his own. Michigan led by as many as 20 points in the contest.

“It was big for us to have that type of expert and execution (against the Tigers),” Beilein said after the Wolverines win against Clemson. “It becomes so mental after that. You just want to go home but you’ve still got to play…”

And on Saturday, the Wolverines finally return home after a three-game stretch on the road. Michigan remains undefeated at Crisler Arena this year but Harvard will be its first true test at home. As for Amaker and the Crimson, a win in Ann Arbor would solidify a hopeful start for a young team.