True freshmen are seldom part of head coach Randy Bennett’s rotation, but first-year guard Mikey Lewis is earning himself more and more minutes every time he steps on the court.

Lewis set a new career-high in scoring for a third consecutive game, scoring a game-high 18 points as Saint Mary’s (3-0) easily handled Akron, 87-68. The freshman’s four 3-pointers were also a career-high as well.

Three games into his collegiate career, Lewis is third on Saint Mary’s in points per game (14.0) despite coming off the bench and ranking seventh in minutes per game (16.7).

Along with Lewis, Paulius Murauskas had his most well-rounded game since joining the Gaels as a transfer from Arizona, stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of 17 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Center Mitchell Saxen (11 points, 11 rebounds) and guard Augustas Marciulionis (11 points, 11 assists) logged double-doubles as well.

This was the first time that Saint Mary’s has had three players log double-doubles in the same game since Nov. 28, 2011 when Matthew Dellavedova (25 points, 11 assists), Rob Jones (24 points, 12 rebounds) and Kenton Walker (14 points, 11 rebounds) accomplished the feat against Damian Lillard and Weber State.

— Justice delos Santos

Stanford cruises to blowout win >> Senior forward Maxime Raynaud, last year’s Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year, dropped a season-high 22 points and collected 11 rebounds as Stanford enjoyed a 90-64 blowout win over Northern Arizona, improving to 3-0 in the Kyle Smith era.

Redshirt sophomore guard Ryan Agarwal enjoyed the best game of his collegiate career, totaling career-highs in points (15), rebounds (four) assists (three) and 3-pointers (four).

Agarwal is thriving in an increased role so far this season. After averaging 3.2 points in 8.2 minutes during his first two seasons with the Cardinal, Agarwal is averaging 10.7 points over 24.3 minutes through three games thus far.

Junior guard Oziyah Sellers contributed 17 points, making 7-of-11 shots from the field. Since transferring from USC, Sellers is averaging a career-high 15.4 points.

— Justice delos Santos

big games on tap for garden >> Back-to-back NCAA champion UConn returns to Madison Square Garden next month for a marquee matchup against Gonzaga, highlighting this season’s college basketball schedule at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Arkansas, Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina are also among 11 programs with a national title set to play at MSG.

In all, 11 teams ranked this week in the AP Top 25 are slated to appear in Midtown Manhattan — including seven of the top 15.

It all starts Sunday, when Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino and No. 22 St. John’s face New Mexico in the NYC Hoops for Heroes Classic.

The game pits Pitino against his son, Richard, the head coach of a Lobos squad that reached the NCAA Tournament last season.

John Calipari, another Hall of Fame coach, brings No. 18 Arkansas to The Garden to face Michigan in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic doubleheader on Dec. 10.

The opener that night features No. 11 Tennessee against Miami.

Four days later, third-ranked Connecticut plays No. 4 Gonzaga in a rematch of a game won by the Huskies in Seattle last December.

UConn went 7-0 last season at Madison Square Garden.

Freshman sensation Cooper Flagg and No. 6 Duke come to MSG for a Feb. 22 tussle with Illinois.