It was déjà vu all over again for Yale in the first round of the NIT as host Vanderbilt defeated the Bulldogs at Memorial Gymnasium, 71-62.
Vanderbilt jumped out to an 11-0 lead two days after Yale fell behind in a 12-0 role against Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament final. The deficit proved too much for Yale to overcome.
Princeton men’s basketball celebrates winning the Ivy League Tournament on its own floor at Jadwin Gym to clinch the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017 Sunday. (Steve Silverman)
Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Princeton’s 74-65 win over Yale at Jadwin Gym to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament:
— Princeton Men’s Basketball (@PrincetonMBB) March 12, 2023
Stopping John Poulakidas was the Princeton game plan.
Mission accomplished.
2021-22 Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan and a variety of double teams held the Yale sophomore guard to seven points on 2-for-7 shooting as the Tigers defeated Yale, 74-65, to earn their first NCAA Tournament biid since 2017.
Yale coach James Jones lauded his team’s execution after the Bulldogs’ 80-60 win over Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal Saturday. (James Jones’ Twitter page)
PRINCETON, N.J. – A 12-0 run at the start of the second half fueled No. 1 Yale to an 80-60 win over No. 4 Cornell to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final Sunday.
Yale had difficulty with the Cornell press in the first half, especially without sophomore guard Bez Mbeng, who picked up two early fouls.
“[I’m] really happy how we executed,” Yale coach James Jones said.
Empty media room seat in memory of Grant Wahl (Photo by Rob Browne)
The morning of day two of Ivy Madness had more people in the media room and arena as the men’s teams took the stage for their interview sessions.
It’s certainly worth noting the empty media room seat left unoccupied as a tribute to Grant Wahl, the award-winning college basketball and soccer journalist who died a few months ago due to complications associated with Marfan syndrome. Wahl attended Princeton from 1992 to 1996 and began his career as a reporter for the Daily Princetonian. A very nice touch by everyone at the Ivy League office and Princeton Athletics.
Some more observations from the pre-semifinal part of the day:
Ivy League Tournament – at Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton) Saturday, March 11: Semifinals No. 1 Yale (20-7, 10-4 Ivy) vs No. 4 Cornell (17-10, 7-7 Ivy) at 11:00 a.m. (available on ESPNU and ESPN+)
Game #1, 1/13/23: Cornell (home) over Yale, 94-82 Game #2, 2/25/23: Yale (home) over Cornell, 76-58
Heading into the last two days of the regular season, Columbia and Princeton were tied for first, while Penn held a one-game lead over Harvard for third place. After the Lions, Tigers and Crimson each grabbed a win, the Ivy League Tournament semifinal matchups of Columbia against Harvard and Princeton versus Penn had been set. What needed to be determined was the seeding of the four teams and the timing of the two matchups.
When the updated NCAA NET rankings were posted on Sunday morning, Princeton’s convincing road victory over upper division Penn combined with Columbia’s narrow escape at home against seventh-place Cornell resulted in the Tigers overcoming an 11-position difference from last week and taking the No. 1 seed away from the Lions.
A wild Saturday capped the regular season for the Ancient Eight. When the dust settled, Yale and Princeton tied for the league title, while Penn settled for third place and Cornell captured the final spot for this weekend’s Ivy League Tournament at Jadwin Gymnasium.
In what was arguably the conference game of the year, it was the worst of times in the opening half and the best of times in the second stanza for the hometown Tigers.
Yale sophomore guard Bez Mbeng scored 27 points in 27 minutes in Yale’s Ivy League championship-clinching win at Brown Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)
Yale won its fifth Ivy League championship in the last eight seasons Saturday with an 84-75 win at Brown before a sold-out, rowdy crowd of 2,003 at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” 24-year Yale coach James Jones said. “To be able to win on the road in a hostile environment shows the character of the guys in our locker room.”
Brown, meanwhile, missed out on an opportunity to punch the program’s first ever Ivy League Tournament ticket with the loss, allowing Cornell to sneak into the tourney.