NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale broke a two-game losing streak with an impressive second half Saturday afternoon at Lee Amphitheater, allowing exactly half as many points as the last time we saw the Bulldogs at Mohegan Sun two weeks ago in a 65-50 win over Vermont, albeit a struggling and undermanned Catamounts team.
The big personnel news of the day was that Yale’s leading scorer (and 16th nationally) John Poulakidas was not in uniform. The Bulldogs’ offense struggled mightily without him in the first half, scoring just 22 points and turning the ball over 13 times. Sophomore Trevor Mullin got his first career start, but it was Bez Mbeng who had six of those turnovers.
Yale recovered in the second half, of course, scoring 1.39 points per possession, with just a single turnover.
Poulakidas is officially day-to-day with a toe injury, which bodes well for Yale. The Bulldogs don’t play for two weeks (yeah, Ivy League finals) and there’s still more than a month until Ivy competition opens. Barring something unforeseen, Poulakidas should be back by then.
However, Yale was missing another starter Saturday, Yassine Gharram, and that absence seems much more complicated. Sources say Gharram was upset at his lack of playing time at Mohegan Sun Arena, particularly in the second half of what turned out to be a 100-94 loss to Delaware. Gharram subsequently left the team and has not returned. He is no longer listed on the team roster.
Gharram had played in every Yale game the last three seasons and started Yale’s first eight games this season.
The absence obviously makes Yale much more thin than it was already, although even without Poulakidas and Gharram (as well as Samson Aletan being limited to 13 minutes with an illness), James Jones was able to use 10 players eight minutes or more. Will he do that in the Ivy League? Probably not, but Jones has found ways to deal with absences before, most notably when Jack Montague withdrew from school and Yale still won the 2015-16 Ivy League title and then beat Baylor in the NCAA Tournament.
“I said this all along, we’re pretty strong 1 through 13 now, and there’s not a lot of separation between the guys that don’t get a chance to play as much, it’s just the opportunities aren’t there,” Jones said. “But a performance like this speaks to the depth on the team and it’s something that we’re proud of and the program that we’ve built. You’re not going to have everyone for every game, so it’s always going to have to be next man up.”
The primary beneficiary from Gharram’s absence is Simmons, who is longer and more athletic, but has been somewhat inconsistent since arriving from Northwestern, particularly on the offensive end. He had his best game of the season Saturday, scoring a team-high 18 points and adding eight rebounds. Even though Gharram is a guard, he led Yale (and is 107th nationally) in defensive rebounding, almost three times as many as Simmons. Gharram was also 8-for-14 from three-point range this season, Simmons had only seven threes in his career coming into 2024-25.
But Simmons hit a big three midway through the second half Saturday that gave Yale a double-digit lead for the first time and his turnover rate is well down from where it was the last two years (Gharram’s was an astronomical 37.2% this season).
“I think that’s my role on this team with my God-given athletic ability to kind of just run around everywhere, try to get every rebound, deflections, and today I got more than normal,” Simmons said.
Even if Simmons is fine with increased minutes, the domino effect will force freshman Isaac Celiscar to be more productive. Celiscar is still learning his way, but has proven to be very strong at the rim and is 4-for-9 from behind the arc (1-for-3 Saturday).
Mullin did not play more than four minutes in any Division I game last season and his career high was 13 until Saturday (22). Senior Jack Molloy is a veteran post presence (and pretty good shooter) who has filled in, while freshmen Jordan Brathwaite and Riley Fox have looked a bit nervous thus far, but Jones clearly has confidence in their future.
In the end, only time will tell if Gharram’s absence is long-term and what it will eventually mean to Yale. James Jones (who was honored pregame for his 400th career victory) has posted nine or more Ivy League victories in each of the last 11 seasons and has not finished outside the top half of the league since 2000. He’s dealt with just about everything you can think of during that time, and his teams have more often than not done just fine.
But, as with everything in life, only time will tell.
Very good article. I had been wondering about Gharram’s absence. I hope he comes back as he can be a disruptive defender, but that remains to be seen. Coach may not take back a player who chose to leave. Good efforts by the first years when they were needed the most.