Brown men’s basketball had everything to gain at the Pizzitola Sports Center today. Yale had pride on the line.
Pride won out, as Yale defeated Brown, 70-61 on Senior Day.
Ivy Madness
“We’re not done”: Dartmouth men’s basketball clinches first Ivy tourney berth with 78-58 win over Brown
HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth inadvertently flashed a graphic momentarily before Saturday’s pivotal game against Brown that read, “Ivy Madness Clinched.”.
Fortunately for the Big Green, there has been little to jinx them in the 2024-25 Ivy League season, as they shook off a dreadful start and halftime deficit to win by another lopsided margin, 78-58, and clinch its first Ivy League Tournament berth in school history at Leede Arena.
Dartmouth men’s basketball gets a winning atmosphere, but Yale gets a 72-67 win
HANOVER, N.H. – Troubles with the Wi-Fi are not new at Leede Arena. It is a notoriously dreadful place to get a signal, even when the crowd can be counted in dozens.
But the line to the restroom that wrapped far outside the door at halftime? That was definitely something that hasn’t been seen in a long, long time.
Yale men’s basketball bulldozes Princeton, 84-57
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.
LISTEN: Brown men’s basketball bests Princeton, 70-56
Ivy Hoops Online correspondent George “Toothless Tiger” Clark recaps Friday’s 70-56 loss for Princeton (16-7, 5-3 Ivy) at Brown (11-10, 3-5):
Audio PlayerCould three Ivy League teams gain berths to the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament?
With fewer than five weeks to go before Selection Sunday, coaches, players and the soothsayers known as bracketologists are beginning to focus their attention on which teams might gain a coveted berth to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Three teams in the Ivy League realistically are in contention for the 68 invitations that will be spread among the 362 Division I teams this year: Columbia, Harvard and Princeton.
One of these three teams is very likely to earn the automatic qualification slotted for the team that wins the Ivy League Tournament in Providence on March 15. For the past five years in which Ivy teams have competed (COVID resulted in no Ivy League postseason play in in 2020 and 2021), Princeton has secured the automatic bid by winning the Ivy League Tournament.
Why Dartmouth men’s basketball believes after a 76-56 romp over Harvard
HANOVER, N.H. – It’s getting to be Ted Lasso time for the Dartmouth men’s basketball team as we reach the midpoint of the 2024-25 Ivy League campaign.
The Big Green believe.
Yale men’s basketball bests Brown, 79-58, in Ivy League opener
Two teams with strong revenge motives met at John J. Lee Amphitheater Saturday.
Brown had defeated Yale on the last day of the regular season last year (84-81) to prevent Yale from sharing the regular season Ivy title with Princeton.
But then Yale overcame a six-point deficit with 27 seconds left to defeat Brown in the Ivy League championship game in March, 62-61.
It was Yale that prevailed Saturday in the rematch, 79-58.
“Really good team win for us. We got contributions from everyone,” Yale coach James Jones said.
Impressions from Ivy League men’s basketball Media Day
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:
Reporter’s Notebook: Ivy Madness day four
The final day of the 2024 Ivy League Tournament was an incredibly chaotic one, which started hours before the noon tipoff of the thrilling men’s championship and ended with a near-midnight zoom celebratory conference call with Columbia women’s basketball coach Megan Griffith.
For the second day in a row, the tournament provided its fair share of emotional highs and lows. There may still be people who haven’t taken to the thought of Ivy Madness, after eight years and six events, but it is an amazing weekend to celebrate the talented players and coaches and showcase this shouldn’t-be-under-the-radar conference to the nation.
I’m still in a bit of a stupor from the last few days, but I’ll try my best to recount scenes from a lengthy final day: