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Richard Kent What a difference a week can make.
Yale men’s basketball suffered a surprising 16-point defeat at Jadwin nine days ago. But after manhandling Columbia 91-74 Monday at John J. Lee Amphitheater on the heels of a Saturday crushing of Cornell, Yale once again looks like the cream of the Ivy League crop.
Some thoughts from Princeton men’s basketball’s 76-60 win over Yale at Jadwin Gym Saturday:
There was reason for hope.
Yale had won three out of five games and lost the other two in overtime. It grabbed a 25-18 first-quarter lead over a scrappy, veteran Brown squad and was tied with the Bears at 41 at the half in their Ivy League opener at John J. Lee Amphitheater Monday.
And then reality struck.
Yale men’s basketball overcame a subpar game from its leading scorer on the season, senior forward Nick Townsend, and a slow first-half start to defeat Brown 70-53 in Providence Monday night.
No Labaron Philon Jr. No problem. No. 14 Alabama beat up on Yale men’s basketball, 102-78, Monday night at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
Yale men’s basketball downed Albany, 93-82, in the MGM Springfield Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic in Springfield Wednesday to become the first team in the country with 11 wins. Yale (11-1) entered the game against Albany (3-8) tied with Duke at 10.
“I thought that the game went along pretty much as I thought it would,” coach James Jones said. “They (Albany) were really patient.”
Yale men’s basketball played out the second leg of a rare home-and home series with an out-of-conference mid-major at John J. Lee Amphitheater Sunday, 13 months after the Bulldogs fell at its opponent, Illinois Chicago, by a 91-79 tally.
But on Sunday, the Bulldogs evened the score by running all over UIC, 80-66.
“It was a really good win over them,” coach James Jones said. “They try to slow you down.”
The last time Yale men’s basketball defeated Vermont in Burlington, Barack Obama was president. (It was 2014.)
Burlington was a house of horrors for Yale two years ago, when a Vermont four-point play with .7 seconds left downed the visitors.
But Yale exorcised those demons with a tough 77-74 victory over the Catamounts Sunday in a heavyweight mid-major battle.
“We just played together and stuck in there,” Yale coach James Jones said. “Vermont is a really good team. Just makes you feel good about us going forward.”
22-for-22.
You read that right. Yale men’s basketball (6-1) was 22-for-22 from the free-throw line and held off a furious Akron (5-2) charge to win the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Tournament, 97-94, Monday night.
“I thought our guys were really connected against a really difficult opponent,” Yale coach James Jones said.
It was the Nick Townsend show Sunday evening at the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The senior forward posted a career-high 32 points plus eight rebounds to lead Yale into the tournament final with a decisive 74-63 win over the College of Charleston.
“They let him (Townsend) go one on one, and he took advantage of it,” coach James Jones said.