Yale men’s basketball has been a first-half team all season.
But don’t tell that to Columbia coach Jim Engles, as the Bulldogs went on a 29-6 second-half run Monday night to turn a narrow 41-39 first-half lead into an 89-70 victory at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
Yale started off strong and led 25-13 off a jumper from junior guard John Poulakidas. A layup by senior guard Zavian McLean gave Columbia its only lead of the game at 39-38.
Columbia shot 47% in the first half. A focused Yale defense held the Lions to just 27.6% shooting in the second half.
The hosts held the Lions without a field goal for 8:30.
“The second half was some of our best basketball of the year,” Yale coach James Jones told Ivy Hoops Online. “We rebounded well, we defended and we made shots. John (Poulakidas) was beyond hot and his teammates were able to find him.”
Poulakidas finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting and 7-for-9 from three-point range. Poulakidas’ seven three-pointers were a career high.
Sophomore big man Danny Wolf notched his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. He added three blocks.
Senior forward Matt Knowling, coming off an ankle injury, turned in an efficient 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting in just 22 minutes.
Sophomore guard Kenny Noland led Columbia with 17 points.
Was revenge a Yale motive after suffering an upset loss at Columbia last season?
”We were aware of that loss and wanted to protect home court,” Jones said.
Yale is still playing with a nine-man rotation, as nine players saw five minutes or more while the game was still very much contested.
The Bulldogs now sit at 11-6 and are tied for the Ivy lead at 2-0. Columbia fell to 9-6 and 0-2 in league play.
In a scheduling quirk, Yale had not been home since a Dec. 8 win over Colby-Sawyer and don’t return to the friendly confines of JLA until its big matchup with Princeton on Feb. 2.
Yale is at Dartmouth on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. Columbia is at Princeton at the same time.