NEW HAVEN — It didn’t matter where he was on the floor or which defender he had in his face. When the Harvard Crimson needed a big bucket to fall Saturday night, Bryce Aiken had one in his pocket.

Trailing, 53-51, with 9:23 left and Yale on a 9-4 burst, Harvard was trying to keep the Bulldogs from running away with the momentum.

While the Crimson moved the ball around, looking for a shot, Aiken quietly drifted to the corner in front of the Harvard bench.

Crimson freshman guard Justin Bassey took a feed in the post and went up strong at the rim, but spotted Aiken at the last second.

Aiken pulled the trigger, not even remotely fazed by Yale sophomore guard Alex Copeland flying at him to contest the shot.

The 3-ball split the net, Aiken and Copeland both went crashing into the Crimson bench, and when they got up, Aiken was headed to the free throw line.

“At first, I wasn’t sure if it was going in or not,’’ Aiken said. “I asked my teammates to help me up.’’

The freshman guard finished off the 4-point play, putting the Crimson ahead, 55-53, and they never looked back on their way to a 75-67 win at Lee Amphitheater.

Yale coach James Jones knew it was a dagger as soon as he saw it.

“I thought that was probably the biggest single play in the game,’’ Jones said. “We had just taken the lead and we foul him on a 3-point shot and gave him a 4-point play. It’s a huge momentum swing for us.’’

It was that kind of night for Aiken.

After going for 23 points Friday night in a win over Brown, Aiken hung a season high on Yale with 27 points on 7-of-17 shooting, knocking down 5 of 10 from three and 8 of 9 from the line.

“It was huge,’’ said Siyani Chambers. “Bryce played well this whole weekend, making timely shots, stepping up, being confident. For a guy like him, it’s nothing new. That’s what we need out of him.’’

It was Aiken’s sixth 20-point game of the season, as he’s emerged as the Crimson’s most dangerous scorer even while coming off the bench.

“We recruited him to do exactly what he’s doing for our team and that’s have an impact,’’ said coach Tommy Amaker. “He’s capable of that and he’s capable of these kinds of nights.’’

Chambers added 16 points and six assists. Corey Johnson dropped 12 points, going 4 of 7 from three.

Led by Copeland (20 points), the Bulldogs dominated the paint in the first half, outscoring the Crimson, 22-8, down low. But they couldn’t buy a basket from beyond the arc (1 for 9 in the first half) and Harvard kept firing. The Crimson drained 12 of their 30 threes to keep Yale at bay.

Harvard’s averaging 21.2 3-pointers a night, and Jones said it’s a striking difference from Crimson teams he’s faced in the past.

“That’s not something they do, so obviously it’s not something that you would anticipate — over half their shots were threes,’’ Jones said. “Normally, they’re going to try to get you at the basket with their inside play.’’

The win gave the Crimson (14-7, 6-2) eight wins in their last 10 games. They’re tied with Yale (14-7) for second place in the Ivy, two games behind Princeton. The weekend was a leap for a freshmen-fueled Harvard team, Amaker said.

“One of the things about freshmen, they’ve been pretty good for us through stretches and the thing that happens sometimes with youth is that they aren’t as consistent,’’ Amaker said. “But I do think tonight was a big step playing in this environment against a terrific basketball team . . . and I’m anxious to see how do we handle it going forward.

“That’s one of the thing you look at for younger players and freshmen — consistency and can we find that with these young guys, and if we do, it’s going to certainly help our team.’’