Wright led his squad in shot attempts with 10, scoring nine points, and Miller and Casey had a number of contested layups find the bottom of the net.

“We always want to go inside and work from the inside out,” Magnarelli said. “We knew they were a little undersized, so we definitely wanted to pound it down low.”

BREAKIN’ OUT

Amaker’s commitment to using his deep bench is clear, as he has consistently relied on an 11-man rotation throughout the team’s first three games.

His substitution strategy has made it a question of when—not if—a freshman will step up and have a breakout performance.

It was Dee Giger’s turn to shine against Holy Cross one week ago. The newcomer had 13 points on four-of-six shooting from behind the arc, including a couple of crucial three-pointers in the second half, earning him Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Although Giger’s stroke has since cooled off a bit, classmate Christian Webster stole the spotlight Friday night. The rookie guard tied Lin with a game-high 12 points, making five of the seven field goals he attempted.

“I thought this was one of Webster’s better games,” Amaker said. “He can certainly shoot the ball.”

His trio of three-pointers came in the first half, providing Harvard’s only long-distance success until Lin hit a trey with four seconds left before intermission.

The Washington, D.C. native displayed his versatility, racking up all three of his assists in the second half, nabbing a couple of offensive rebounds and a block for good measure.

“Right now it’s about getting the freshmen comfortable,” Lin said. “Once everyone’s comfortable, we’re hoping we can run away with everything in terms of offense.”

—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.