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

(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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LISTEN: Princeton men’s basketball ekes out 84-82 win over Delaware

Ivy Hoops Online contributor George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Princeton men’s basketball’s advancement to 12-1 with an 84-82 win Saturday over host Delaware (8-5):

Princeton men fall in hole they can’t dig out of, fall to Delaware in 76-69 loss

Princeton coach Mitch Henderson’s squad fell to 8-4 with its loss to Delaware, the last Division I nonconference foe on the team’s schedule. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Our George “Toothless Tiger” Clark reports on a Princeton men’s comeback fallen short at Jadwin Gym against Delaware Friday night and why there could be a silver lining in the loss:

An unlikely comeback generates more optimism for Cornell men

Trailing by 11 with under five minutes to go, a win seemed unlikely for the Cornell men against Delaware. But a 20-2 run to finish the game shocked the Blue Hens as the Big Red escaped with a 74-67 victory.

Cornell faced a Delaware squad just months removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, and the team returned many key pieces. It’s a significant victory against a quality mid-major opponent.

Frankly, Cornell probably didn’t deserve to win that game. Delaware pushed a 10-0 run in the ensuing minutes before Cornell’s dramatic comeback. But it’s a telling victory.

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Carla Berube: A name to remember

Carla Berube is a remarkable 29-1 (.967) in her first 30 games as the Tigers’ head coach. (Princeton Athletics)

You know all the top coaches in the women’s game. Actually, you know them all by their first names.

Geno. Kim. Tara. Dawn. Brenda. And the list goes on. Every fan of the game would come up with those names quickly.

But most would struggle to come up with another. And it belongs. Maybe not in November 2021. But it will by March 2022.

The name is Carla. Yes, Princeton’s Carla Berube.

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Princeton women and men notch big wins over Delaware, South Carolina

George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps two huge wins for Princeton Friday: the women’s 76-56 victory at Delaware in junior guard Julia Cunningham’s best game as a Tiger and the men’s 66-62 triumph over South Carolina in the opening game of the Asheville Championship with a stellar performance from junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan:

 

 

What can Columbia build on after another tough loss?

As the great Renaissance humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam said: “Damn, Columbia just can’t buy a win.”

Columbia fell 87-86 in double overtime to Delaware Sunday at Levien Gym, leaving the Lions a frustrating 1-5 and the only team in the Ivy League under .500 and still searching for answers. The talent is there. The wins are not.

After an exceedingly comfortable win over St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) of Division III, the Lions fought back multiple times against the 7-2 Blue Hens. Mike Smith scored five points late in regulation to force overtime. Gabe Stefanini hit a huge three to force a second overtime. Columbia earned the chance to win the game by getting a tie-up with 1.9 seconds to play. But the inbounds set remained unchanged despite a Delaware timeout; a lob to Patrick Tape, not corralled, and an off-balance Stefanini jumper, not converted, closed the books on a good start to December. Conference play, obviously, is the key, but Columbia is yet to prove a formula that might prove effective therein.

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Cornell’s shooting woes continue in loss to Delaware

Cornell could not fix its shooting woes from Sunday against Colgate and dropped Thursday’s home contest against the Delaware Blue Hens by a score of 73-56. Cornell fell to 2-2 with the loss, while the Blue Hens improved to 3-1.

Jimmy Boeheim and Matt Morgan both had stellar games, with Boeheim notching 23 points on 7-for-13 shooting off the bench, and Matt Morgan was able to recover from a poor game on Sunday with 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He also hauled in five boards and had four assists. The two pitched in a combined 44 points, shooting 16-for-26 (61.5 percent), while the rest of the team combined for just 12 points shooting on a woeful 6-for-31 (19.4 percent). The team shot 6-for-23 for three (26.1 percent), with Morgan and Boeheim connecting on three each. Five of the six threes came in the game’s last 6:12.

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Game Preview: Cornell at Delaware

Freshman Shonn Miller has taken home two Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards already this season. Miller looks to lead the Big Red over the Blue Hens of Delaware tonight. (Photo Credit: buffalonews.com)

By Sam Aleinikoff & Jake Mastbaum

Game 5: Cornell (2-2) vs Delaware (0-2) – Tuesday, November 22 – Bob Carpenter Center Acierno Arena

On the heels of an impressive victory over American East-favorite Boston University, Cornell hits the road in search of a winning record for the first time in nearly a year. The Red was last above .500 following a win over the same Delaware squad that it travels to play on Tuesday. With a newly developed, and largely unexpected interior threat in the duo of Eitan Chemerinski and Josh Figini, Cornell hopes that balance in the scoring column will keep the group on the winning path against the Blue Hens.

The Blue Hens look to be at full strength Tuesday night.  Freshman Kyle Anderson and Jarvis Threatt each went down for stretches on Friday night at Villanova but are expected to play. Their ability to bounce back will play a major factor in Delaware picking up its first W of the season.

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