So very close.
No. 12 Yale came up just short in its bid for the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history, falling to No. 4 Duke, 71-64, in front of a pro-Yale partisan crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
No. 12 Yale vs No. 4 Duke: What to watch for
Little did anyone expect Yale and Duke would meet for a second time after the Blue Devils handed Yale an 80-61 loss in November. But that exact scenario is taking place Saturday afternoon in Providence in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Duke beat Yale on that night, 80-61, but the game was much closer. Yale raced out to a 9-0 lead and trailed 38-36 at the half.
How No. 12 Yale can defeat No. 4 Duke, part 2
With the exception of a few high-profile bloviators, most people around college basketball (and everyone that regularly reads this blog, for that matter) knew that Yale had a solid shot against Baylor on Thursday.
We all know that the Bulldogs delivered — and have about as favorable a matchup as they could possibly get in the round of 32, getting a Duke team they’ve already faced.
Having had the opportunity to watch both teams play in the round of 64 on Thursday in Providence, I’ve come up with a bit of a game plan for Yale to become the first Ivy team to reach the Sweet Sixteen since Cornell made its magical run in 2010.
How No. 12 Yale can defeat No. 4 Duke, part 1
Yale lost to Duke in November, 80-61, with the Blue Devils shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, including 58.3 percent from two-point range. Duke scored 1.19 points per possession against the Bulldogs, with four Dukies scoring at least 12 points. Indeed, Duke’s offense is its calling card, as coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad ranks fourth in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency and fifth in offensive turnover percentage. Duke is also 26th nationally in three-point percentage. The Dukies’ offense is disciplined, efficient and potent from long range.
But the Elis match up well with the Blue Devils in three key areas and will defeat Duke if it can capitalize on them:
No. 6 West Virginia defeats No. 11 Princeton, 74-65
The No. 11 Princeton women’s basketball team fell to No. 6 West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio Friday, surrendering an eight-point first-half lead in the Tigers’ sixth tournament appearance.
The Mountaineers shot north of 50 percent in the second half, led by Bria Holmes’ 26 points. Annie Tarakchian and Alex Wheatley scored 20 and 18 points for the Tigers respectively.
Princeton had returned three starters from last year’s squad that went undefeated during the regular season, nabbing the first at-large bid in Ivy history with its 22-6 regular season overall record, including a 12-2 mark in league play.
Yale or Duke? Who non-Yale fans should root for
As Brandon Sherrod iced Baylor from the foul line Thursday afternoon, two thoughts quickly popped into the minds of Ivy basketball enthusiasts. First, a sense of shock that Yale had actually pulled off the upset and second, that next in line for the Elis was Duke, one of the bluest of college basketball’s bluebloods.
The question posed to all non-Yale Ivy fans was, do we root for team loyalty or conference loyalty? You, the esteemed reader, might be dealing with this dilemma yourself. Is it really worth rooting for Duke (Duke!) just for the sake of hoping a conference rival doesn’t make it past the first weekend? Here to tackle this issue are two Columbia fans who are definitely not bitter that their team has not made the tournament in their lifetimes while others experience joy: Miles Johnson is taking the pro-Yale (or at least anti-Duke) side, and Sam Tydings would rather see Grayson Allen smile than Yale advance to the Sweet 16.
No. 12 Yale defeats No. 5 Baylor, 79-75, notches first NCAA Tournament win ever
Yale made history just by showing up. Then the Bulldogs made a whole lot more.
In Yale’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1962, the Bulldogs won their first contest in the tourney ever, besting the Bears, 79-75, after leading most of the way in front of a Yale partisan crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
Ivy CIT/NIT postseason roundup
Columbia 86, Norfolk State 54
The host Lions doubled up the Spartans in the first half, 42-21, and never looked back. Luke Petrasek shook off a late-season scoring slump to lead all scorers with 18 points in just 24 minutes, with Petrasek and Maodo Lo each hitting four treys to give the Lions an easy first-round CIT win. The Spartans got outscored 48-6 from three-point range, and that was pretty much the ballgame. Here’s Columbia Athletics’ explanation of what happens next in the crazy CIT process:
On the Vine – Mar. 15, 2016
The panel looks ahead to Yale’s NCAA Tournament first-round showdown with Baylor, Princeton’s NIT matchup with Virginia Tech and Columbia’s CIT square-off with Norfolk State. Peter Andrews and Mike Tony are joined by IHO writer Robert Crawford and Dallas Morning News contributor/Baylor expert Shehan Jeyarajah for this episode:
No. 12 Yale vs. No. 5 Baylor: What to watch for
Here we are.
Yale makes its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1962 Thursday at 2:45 p.m., a virtual home game for the No. 12 Bulldogs against the No. 5 Baylor Bears. The Bears will be attempting to gain revenge from a first-round upset at the hands of upstart Georgia Southern last year. The Bears have enjoyed success in the Big Dance under 13-year coach Scott Drew, going to the Elite Eight in 2010 and 2012. But then-No. 3 Baylor got upset by No. 14 Georgia State in Athens, Ga. in the Bears’ first NCAA contest last season, an eerily similar virtual road matchup with an underdog foe to the threat posed by Yale in Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this season.
The game should be low-scoring, which will favor the Elis. Both teams turn the ball over too much (Yale ranks 296th in the country in turnover percentage, Baylor ranks 228th), but Yale has shot the ball better, especially from two-point range against high-major competition.