Yale men’s basketball dispatched preseason MAAC favorite Quinnipiac (1-2) in Hamden, Conn. last night, 97-60. Yale (2-0) was down early and grabbed a 24-23 lead over the hosts (1-2) and the Bulldogs were off to the races.
“It was a great team performance. Our kids played really well together,” said coach James Jones.
Yale shot 70% from the field (21-for-30) in the first half and closed the stanza on a 29-6 run.
A total of 12 Bulldogs scored, keyed by 13 points from sophomore guard Riley Fox on 5-for-5 shooting and 13 from junior center Samson Aletan.
Sophomore guard Jordan Brathwaite had a career-high 11 points.
Yale now has a KenPom ranking of No. 65, far and away the best in the Ivy and above many power conference programs.
Yale next takes on Stony Brook at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the home opener at John J. Lee Amphitheater in a Pack The Pantry promotion.
Some observations:
Team of runs: Yale went on a 20-2 run in the home opener against Navy and a 21-2 run last night.
Mad scientist: Jones is known to heavily experiment with lineups out of conference, and he has 13 players to work with this season.
Circle that date: Yale is at AP No. 8 Alabama on Dec. 29.
Off the bench: Former Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Fox is a huge luxury for Jones coming off the bench. He is instant offense.
Point guard: While many hypothesized that Yale might need help at the point entering the season, junior guard Trevor Mullin has been more than steady and first-year guard Courtney Wallace appears to be a future star.