Coming out of the timeout, Tashman answered with a layup, but the Crimson continued to increase its lead.

Rookie Steve Moundou-Missi made his presence felt, swatting a layup attempt from MIT forward Noel Hollingsworth and then finishing an up-and-under layup on the other end to put the Crimson up by nine.

“Steve’s block really ignited us,” Wright said. “That really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

The Crimson’s lead never dipped below 10 for the rest of the game.

In the second half, Rivard put on a shooting clinic, knocking down three treys and a mid-range jumper late in the game to lead Harvard on a personal 11-0 run.

“I almost air-balled my third [three-point attempt], but I just forgot about it, and I kept shooting it, and guys kept finding me,” said Rivard who went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

“He’s the best shooter on the team—one of the best shooters in the nation,” Wright said. “When he’s open, we expect him to shoot. We weren’t really surprised. We were kind of laughing, smiling, enjoying it.”

But the Crimson players weren’t smiling midway through the second half, when the Engineers’ frontcourt duo of Tashman and Hollingsworth started to have its way in the post, combining for 16 second-half points.

“I think we have to do a better job up front in our post defense,” Amaker said. “Give them credit for what they were able to do and how they got the ball in the interior, but we have to be better up front with the people we’re going to face.”

Despite MIT’s success in the post, the Crimson’s lead was never threatened, as Harvard went up by as many as 31 with under six minutes to play.

With the win, the Crimson extended its winning streak at Lavietes Pavilion to 18 games.

—Staff writer Martin Kessler can be reached at martin.kessler@college.harvard.edu.