Wright scores 16 and Harvard shoots 75 percent in second half to rout Rice 85-64

Wright helps hot-shooting Harvard beat Rice 85-64

BOSTON — Keith Wright scored 16 points and Harvard shot 75 percent from the field in the second half to cruise to an 85-64 victory over Rice on Wednesday night.

The Crimson (6-1), which is off to its best start since going 8-0 in the 1984-85 season, hit 15 of 20 shots in the second half and was 31-for-51 (60.8 percent) for the game. Harvard also made 19 of 22 free throws and dished out 22 assists, seven by Oliver McNally.

With the Owls (4-3) ahead 13-12, Harvard used an 18-7 run to lead 31-19 with 3:45 left and took a 40-26 margin into halftime.

The Crimson led by as many as 25 points in the second half as Rice shot 34.6 percent from the field (9-for-26) to finish at 38.9 percent (21-for-54).

Jeremy Lin added 14 points for Harvard and McNally chipped in 13.

Lawrence Ghoram led Rice with 14 points while Trey Stanton and Emerson Herndon had 13 apiece.