“I mean it’s good to send the message, ‘It’s going be a grind it out game, nothing easy, nothing easy around the rim especially,’” Casey said.

In addition to his two cleanly blocked shots, Casey finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

“Kyle is going to have, we think, a very good career here and, I think you saw some of the reasons why we feel that way,” Amaker said. “He’s active, he’s athletic, and he’s aggressive.”

With that said, Casey fell victim to a number of rookie mistakes. On top of his goaltend, Casey was responsible for a three-second violation and found himself in foul trouble.

“I was disappointed with a couple of the silly fouls he made, but that’s typical of a freshman,” Amaker said.

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Despite finishing with typically impressive offensive numbers of 24 points and seven assists, it took some time for Jeremy Lin to get things going.

Facing double teams on the perimeter throughout the fist half, Lin’s first shot attempt did not come until 12 minutes had ticked away—Harvard star connected on his first basket with 2:40 remaining in the first period.

For most teams, it’s a bad sign when the leading scorer struggles to get shots. But the Crimson kept the score tight throughout the period and took the lead heading into the break following a five-point surge by Lin to close out the half.

A large part of Harvard’s first-half success was conditional upon Lin’s ability to distract opposing defenses and facilitate his team’s offense.

“He’s going to be a magnet [for defenses], and we’ve talked to him a lot about making the play, not necessarily trying to make the shot,” Amaker said. “He’s a playmaker for us.”