Matt Knowling – Page 7 – Ivy Hoops Online

Eight-man rotation coming into shape for Yale men ahead of matchup with Hawaii

November 14, 2022 by Richard Kent

The Yale men’s basketball team improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season that it finished in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 with an 80-51 thrashing of Mississippi Valley State Sunday.

The game in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic in Honolulu wasn’t even that close.

How Yale men outlasted Eastern Washington in Honolulu showdown

November 12, 2022 by Richard Kent

Yale junior forward Matt Knowling posted 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting in 28 minutes in his team’s 74-60 win over Eastern Washington in Honolulu Friday. Knowling has shot 80% from the field through the first two games of the season. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

The James Jones system is all about rebounding and defense. The system was on full display Friday in Honolulu.

The Bulldogs bested Eastern Washington, 74-60, at the Outrigger Rainbow Classic, powered by a 36-24 edge in rebounding over the Eagles.

“It was a tremendous defensive effort,” Jones said.

2022-23 IHO Men’s Preseason Poll

November 7, 2022November 6, 2022 by Mike Tony

Only five points separated the top three teams in the Ivy League Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, and our final tabulation was even tighter. Just three points separated the team atop IHO contributors’ preseason poll.

Yale gets the slight nod here, with our contributors trusting James Jones to lead the Bulldogs to their fifth Ivy League title in an eight-season span in a bid to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament for a third straight time. Penn, the Ivy League preseason poll’s top team above Princeton by a single point, also finished a single point above Princeton in our standings. Our contributors saw potential for success in a roster that returns most of the key players from last year’s squad that placed third in the Ivy standings. We’ve got Princeton pegged to finish third, aided in their quest to repeat as Ivy League champions by returning 2021-22 Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan but losing significant backcourt production from last year’s conference title team.

Harvard was the clear No. 4 finisher in our poll, a showing that would improve upon the disappointing sixth-place result that locked the Crimson out of the Ivy League Tournament on its home floor last season. We have Cornell ranked slightly ahead of Brown as the Big Red look to build on last season’s overachieving Ivy League Tournament berth and the Bears look to bounce back from an underachieving sixth-place finish (tied with Harvard) a season ago. Columbia and Dartmouth tied in our voting tally at the bottom of the standings as both programs look to secure their first Ivy League Tournament appearances.

No. 14 Yale fails to size up No. 3 Purdue in 78-56 defeat in NCAA Tournament

March 18, 2022 by Richard Kent

In his final game for Yale, senior guard Azar Swain contributed 18 points on 8-for-19 shooting, making his first five shots before the No. 14 Bulldogs faded in a 78-56 loss to No. 3 Purdue in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Friday. (photo by Erica Denhoff)

Size matters.

That was evident in Milwaukee today at Fiserv Forum, where Purdue throttled a game but undermanned Yale team, 78-56, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday.

The game was reminiscent of Yale’s 80-44 loss at a much bigger Seton Hall in November. Purdue outrebounded the Bulldogs, 42-33, and at one point had a 23-1 advantage in free throw attempts.

No. 2 Yale men push past No. 3 Penn, 67-61, to advance to Ivy League Tournament final

March 13, 2022March 12, 2022 by Richard Kent

Webster’s defines “toughness” as the quality of being strong and not easily broken. The word and the definition define Yale men’s basketball.

Yale exhibited toughness throughout in defeating Penn, 67-61, to advance to the Ivy League championship game tomorrow at noon against Princeton, a winner in dramatic fashion over Cornell.

Both games were played at Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion before 1,250 fans.

Yale held a 32-29 lead at the half off 50% shooting. The lead widened to 44-35 before Penn went on an extended run to take a 56-55 lead. After a timeout, the characteristic Yale toughness was apparent in a 7-1 run.

Penn cut the deficit to one, but a dominant Yale defense and a key bucket from Bez Mbeng closed out the win.

“It was another really good college basketball game,” Yale coach James Jones said. “We fought very hard.”

“We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” coach Steve Donahue said. “We had our open shots, I thought. It didn’t go in today.”

Penn shot 23-for-58 (39.7%) from the field and 11-for-33 (33.3%) when subtracting the shot output of sophomore guard Jordan Dingle, who notched a game-high 28 points on 12-for-25 shooting.

“Very disappointed that I couldn’t get it done this year with this group of guys,” Dingle said.

Azar Swain led Yale with 25 points on 9-for-15 shooting, including a 5-for-8 outing from three-point range. Captain Jalen Gabbidon was held to nine points, as Penn and Jelani Williams keyed on him. Gabbidon had a total of 53 points in the two earlier meetings between the teams. Swain had shot just 8-for-25 from the field in the teams’ previous two meetings, which they split.

“Azar’s been our guy, obviously, all year, but he was extremely efficient tonight,” Jones said.

Matt Knowling added 10 points for the Bulldogs with an efficient 5-for-9 shooting from the field.

Rookie forward/center Nick Spinoso scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting for Penn in just 22 minutes.

Yale committed only seven turnovers.

The Bulldogs improved to 18-11, and Penn finished its season at 12-16.

In attendance for the win were former Yale greats Butch Graves, 16-year NBA veteran Chris Dudley and Steve Leondis, who was recognized during the game and got to see a memorable win for their alma mater.

Now they’ve pulled it off twice in five days.

Yale men hang on to end regular-season losing streak versus Harvard

February 6, 2022 by Richard Kent

Matt Knowling posted 10 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes in Yale’s win over Harvard Saturday. It was the Bulldogs’ first regular-season win over Harvard since 2016. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Feb. 26, 2016 was a long time ago – so long ago that no member of the Yale men’s basketball team was even enrolled at Yale.

Yale men “locked in” to hand Princeton its first Ivy defeat

January 30, 2022 by Richard Kent

Matt Knowling tied a collegiate career scoring high with 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting in Yale’s win at Princeton Saturday. (Photo by Erica Denhoff)

Remember the name Matt Knowling.