August Mahoney

Yale men’s basketball bulldozes Princeton, 84-57

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It took 71 years to accomplish it, but Yale men’s basketball is 9-0 in Ivy League play for the first time in program history.

The Bulldogs made that history emphatically Saturday night with an 84-57 win over Princeton in snowy New Haven at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

“I mean it is another part of history,” Yale coach James Jones said. “There’s so many things these guys have done over a career.”

Yale (16-6, 9-0 Ivy) led by as many as 34 points, 73-39, on a wide-open Bez Mbeng corner trey.

Princeton (16-8, 5-4) started with more energy than its loss to Yale at Jadwin Gym two weeks ago or its defeat Friday evening at Brown. The Tigers went up 8-3 on a trey from senior guard Blake Peters, 90% of whose shots this season have been from long distance.

Yale went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-12 lead.

The Bulldogs led 32-20 at the half against a Tiger team averaging 75 points per game.

Princeton scored only eight points in the last 11 minutes of the half and shot 23% from the field.

“That was as good a defensive effort as we have all year,” Jones said.

Yale went on a 10-0 run in the second half to effectively end the game at 56-31.

The Bulldogs proved once again that they could be dominant even on an off night from the Ivy League’s leading scorer, senior John Poulakidas, who was held to 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting.

The home team was led in scoring by junior forward Nick Townsend, who tallied 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting. Senior guard Bez Mbeng added 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting.

Junior guard Xaivian Lee was the only bright light for the Tigers with 19 points.

Junior forward Caden Pierce, reigning Ivy Player of the Year, stayed in his funk with no field goals and two free throws.

Yale clinched a slot in Ivy Madness with the win.

The Bulldogs are playing at a higher level and more cohesively than a year ago, despite the losses of Danny Wolf (Michigan), Matt Knowling (USC) and August Mahoney (graduation).

Yale has won 13 out of the last 16 meetings against Princeton. The 27-point margin is the largest in Yale history over the Tigers.

Yale hosts Cornell while Princeton hosts Harvard at 7 p.m. Friday.

 

Impressions from Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day

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The Ivy League hosted media day on Tuesday for the upcoming men’s basketball season.  

Here’s one key impression from interviews with players and coaches from each of the eight Ancient Eight programs:

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Ivy men’s basketball Media Day highlights

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With the non-conference schedule set to begin in less than three weeks, the Ivy League held its annual Media Day on Tuesday afternoon. The three-hour event, hosted by Lance Medow, featured coaches and players from each of the eight programs.

Fans can check out the recording on the conference’s YouTube channel.

Below are some highlights:

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Q&A with Penn men’s basketball coach Steve Donahue, part 2

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(Steve Donahue X page)

Media expectations for Penn basketball are the lowest they’ve been since coach Steve Donahue’s first season on campus in 2015. The Quakers were tabbed to finish seventh in the Ivy League, ahead of only Dartmouth. 

Predictive analytics websites have a slightly rosier outlook and project Penn to be in the mix for a third or fourth-place finish, which would be good enough to earn a trip to Ivy Madness in Providence.

With the season just three weeks away, Ivy Hoops Online spoke with Donahue to take a deep dive into how the Quakers will operate with seven new players on the roster.

Both questions and answers have been edited for clarity and length:

Check out part 1 of the conversation here. 

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Q&A with Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones

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(James Jones’s Twitter page)

Ivy Hoops Online caught up with James Jones as he begins his 26th year at Yale with early-season September workouts to prepare his team for the 2024-25 slate:

IHO: What are the strengths of your team this season?

JJ: Confidence, which comes from our success. We are smaller than we have been with a higher work ethic. Everyone on the team has it. Last season we had a good work ethic, but not like this.

IHO: Talk about John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, both seniors.

JJ: They are comparable to any of our top two seniors over the years. Like Brandon Sherrod and Justin Sears.

IHO: Who are some guys that you think might have breakout seasons?

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No. 13 Yale men’s basketball falls to No. 5 San Diego State, 85-57, in NCAA Tournament second round

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Yale senior forward Matt Knowling, senior guard August Mahoney and coach James Jones sit for their postgame press conference following an 85-57 loss to San Diego State Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. (March Madness video broadcast)

No. 13 Yale’s NCAA Tournament run ended with a second-round thud Sunday night local time in Spokane, Wash. in an 85-57 loss to No. 5 San Diego State.

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No. 13 Yale men’s basketball upsets No. 4 Auburn, 78-76, for second NCAA Tournament win in program history

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“I don’t know if that was the best win in Yale basketball history, but I will tell you that’s the best basketball team that we’ve beaten in Yale basketball history, as far as I’m concerned.”

So reflected Yale coach James Jones after his No. 13-seeded Bulldogs pulled off a 78-76 upset of No. 4 Auburn for the ages in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Friday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash.

Auburn was a 12.5-point favorite, KenPom’s No. 4 team in the country and the SEC Tournament champion.

Yale (23-9, 13-3 Ivy) controlled tempo for most of the game and was as cool as its coach in crunch time.

Auburn (27-8, 16-5 SEC) was up 12-5 and in control early when junior guard/forward Chad Baker-Mazara was ejected at the 16:59 mark for a flagrant-two foul for an elbow to August Mahoney. Yale then went on an 8-2 run on treys from John Poulakidas and Mahoney to take an 18-16 lead.

Auburn took a 41-34 lead into halftime. Yale First Team All-Ivy selection Danny Wolf was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting and the normally sure-handed Bulldogs had eight turnovers, five by Bez Mbeng, which led to 13 Tiger points.

Yale went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to grab a 44-43 lead on a Mahoney free throw. Poulakidas, who had a game-high 28 points, drained two treys in that stretch.

Auburn then went on a 10-2 run.

With Auburn leading 70-64, Poulakidas made a short jumper, and Matt Knowling and Wolf each went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to knot the score at 70.

Wolf gave Yale a 75-72 lead on two free throws with 45 seconds remaining, and All-SEC first-team selection Johni Broome countered with two from the charity stripe to give Yale a 75-74 lead with :33 remaining as Wolf fouled out.

 August Mahoney was then fouled and canned two more foul shots to put Yale up 77-74.

 A subsequent 1-for-2 trip to the foul line by junior guard Yassine Gharram made it 78-74.

Auburn senior guard K.D. Johnson then drove to the basket, made a layup and was fouled by Yale first-year center Samson Aletan. He missed the free thrown and Auburn regained possession on a rebound tie-up.

Ivy Defensive Player of the Year Bez Mbeng fouled sophomore guard Tre Donaldson and he missed the free throw. Auburn missed a putback and Johnson missed a contested three as the buzzer went off and the euphoric Yale team ran onto the court to celebrate.

Mahoney called the win “a dream come true.”

A stifling Yale defense, keyed by Mbeng, forced nine Auburn turnovers in the second half.

Broome led Auburn with 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Poulakidas delivered a performance to remember, hitting shots in clutch moments for a stat line of 28 points on 10-for-15 field-goal shooting, including 6-for-9 from three-point range, in 35 minutes, and two rebounds, assists and steals each. None of Poulakidas’ shots were bigger than a contested stepback three with 2:10 to play that gave the Bulldogs a 73-72 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Mahoney rung up 14 points and Wolf 13, 11 of which in the second half.

Yale will face No. 5 San Diego State, a 69-65 winner over No. 12 UAB, Sunday for the right to go to the Sweet 16 in Boston.

Yale was making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and fourth under Jones in his 25th year helming the Bulldogs. The win is Yale’s second ever in the NCAA Tournament after it upset No. 5 Baylor as a No. 12 seed in 2016.

Vibes are HIGH in the Yale locker room #MarchMadness @YaleMBasketball pic.twitter.com/efcYBMpR17

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2024

Yale’s win delivered the Ivy League its eighth men’s NCAA Tournament win since 2010 and third in the past two tournaments.

The Ivy League’s NCAA Tournament representative has won at least one tournament game in six of the Ivies’ last 13 appearances.

No. 4 Brown men’s basketball loses glass slipper in last-second Ivy League Tournament final loss to No. 2 Yale

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Kino Lilly Jr. and the rest of the Brown starters get ready to take on No. 1 Yale in Sunday’s Ivy League Tournament final. (Photo: Rob Browne)

NEW YORK – With 27 seconds to go and a 60-54 lead, Brown appeared destined to punch its first NCAA Tournament ticket since 1986.

But Yale finished the game on an 8-1 run, punctuated by a short jumper by senior forward Matt Knowling at the buzzer, to end Brown’s season and claim the Bulldogs’ third Ivy League Tournament championship since the tourney was installed for the 2016-17 season.

While the future is bright for a team that returns its entire starting lineup in 2024-25, it doesn’t remove the  pain felt by the coaches, players and fans.

“Obviously, there is a lot in front of our people, but not this team, so that’s really hard,” the Brown alum and 12th-year head coach told the media immediately following the hard-fought battle “I felt like I let them down in the last minute of the game.”

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No. 2 Yale men’s basketball nips No. 4 Brown, 62-61, in instant classic to win Ivy Leagye

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NEW YORK –  By the slimmest of margins, Yale eked past Brown to win the Ivy League Tournament in an instant classic at Levien Gym Sunday afternoon.