The agony of defeat was never more manifest than Tuesday night in the bowels of John J. Lee Amphitheater, where Yale men’s basketball was edged by UNC Wilmington in their NIT opener, 68-67.
Trevor Mullin
Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball’s Ivy League Tournament final win over No. 3 Yale
TJ Power just put up the best individual performance in Quakers history. His 44 points just led Penn to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. pic.twitter.com/QfnBWFsIlo
— Ian Wenik (@IanWenik) March 15, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y. – Penn men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years after outlasting Yale in overtime, 88-84, in one of the greatest games in recent Ivy League history Sunday at Newman Arena.
The Quakers (18-11) needed a transcendent performance from forward TJ Power to pull off the Ivy League Tournament final upset with leading scorer Ethan Roberts back in Philadelphia, sidelined with a concussion.
Boy, did Power deliver. The junior had a 44-point detonation, which matched Hassan Duncombe for the program’s single-game scoring record since it joined the Ivy League in 1954. Power personally erased what was a four-point Penn deficit with 12 seconds to play by simply dribbling into three-pointers on consecutive possessions.
The last of those threes, a contested shot from the right wing, tied the game at 75 with a second to go in regulation. Yale guard Trevor Mullin (who had hit two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three before Power’s heroic shot) nearly sank a three-quarter-court heave as the buzzer sounded, but it clanged off the back iron.
In overtime, Power — whose free-throw shooting struggles this season have been well-documented — put the Quakers ahead for good with 3:02 left in the extra session following two makes from the charity stripe. He got a ton of help from senior guard Cam Thrower, who had a five-point scoring burst in a 40-second span to give the Red and Blue some critical breathing room.
In his first campaign running his alma mater, coach Fran McCaffery has pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in recent college basketball memory.
What should Penn fans hold onto from an afternoon of unbridled joy?
No. 1 Yale men’s basketball holds off No. 4 Cornell to advance to Ivy League Tournament final
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior Josh Baldwin entered the center circle for the opening tip Saturday morning at Newman Arena and just smiled at Yale’s Samson Aletan.
At 6-foot-5, Baldwin knew he had no chance to win the jump, but his insertion into the starting lineup has been integral to Cornell’s late-season success, particularly on the defensive end, where the Big Red made great strides to win eight of 11 and somewhat improbably get to Ivy Madness at all after an 0-3 league start. The most prominent of those wins was an uncharacteristic 72-69 slugfest over two-time defending champ Yale two weeks ago.
Yale men’s basketball thrashes Princeton on Senior Day
There’s little doubt that the Ivy schedule- makers intended Yale-Princeton on the last day of the season to have an impact on the Ivy men’s title chase.
Yale men’s basketball beats Columbia, clinches share of regular season title
In the second game of an Ivy League back-to-back weekend, the Yale men’s basketball team put aside Friday night’s loss to Cornell and gutted out a 60-54 victory over Columbia at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday night.
“Great teams respond to adversity,” senior forward Nick Townsend, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, told SNY’s Lance Medow after the game. “It’s good to get a win after that long ride from Cornell.”
The triumph for the conference leaders, coupled with Harvard’s 64-61 loss to Penn at the Palestra, gave the Bulldogs (22-5, 10-3 Ivy) at least a share of the Ivy League regular season title.
With wins by the Quakers and the Big Red, as well as a loss by Dartmouth, the Lions (16-11, 5-8), which have never appeared in the Ivy League Tournament, were officially eliminated from tournament contention.
Even if the Bulldogs and Crimson end the regular season tied for first, the former will have the No. 1 seed for Ivy Madness based on a better record against Penn.
Last-second three gives Cornell men’s basketball key win over Yale
With the clock ticking down and overtime likely, Cornell’s Jake Fiegen found a slight opening at the top of the arc and launched a last-second shot over the outstretched arm of senior forward Nick Townsend.
The senior guard’s triple hit nothing but the bottom of the net, leading the Big Red to a 72-69 upset of first-place Yale Friday night at Newman Arena.
Capping off the hard-fought victory, the boisterous Newman faithful stormed the court, showing their pride in a Cornell team that remains in the hunt for a spot in the Ivy League Tournament taking place on this same court in two weeks.
“We have such a great fanbase. Shoutout to the football team, shoutout to the everyone that was here,” senior guard Cooper Noard told ESPNU’s Derek Jones from courtside. “A super-special group they’ve got here tonight. I’m so proud of our fans, so proud of our team.”
How Yale men’s basketball edged Penn sans Nick Townsend
No Nick Townsend. No problem.
Yale men’s basketball had sophomore forward Isaac Celiscar and senior forward Casey Simmons, and that duo powered Yale to a 74-70 win over surging Penn at John J. Lee Amphitheater Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Yale (21-4, 9-2 Ivy) clinched a bid to the Ivy League Tournament.
Yale men’s basketball wins overtime thriller at Harvard
Few sporting events live up to their billing. Yale-Harvard did and more Saturday night, as the Bulldogs edged Harvard, 76-75, in overtime in a game at Lavietes Pavilion which offered more theatrics than most Broadway plays.
Yale men’s basketball outlasts Dartmouth at Leede Arena
HANOVER, N.H. – There was some concern for the Ivy League preseason favorite Yale men’s basketball team after it stumbled against Harvard at home on Jan. 31 and followed that up with a dreadful first half against Brown the following week before pulling it out.
But the Bulldog offense that had climbed as high as 15th nationally in efficiency back in nonconference play appears to be back. Dartmouth had no answers, particularly in the second half, as Yale rolled to an 83-70 win at Leede Arena Friday night.
“I think we were pretty clean offensively in both halves,” Yale coach James Jones said. “We were dominant and had good leads in both halves. Most games in the first half are going to be like a prizefight trying to figure each other out. That takes a little time, but I thought we played well.”
Harvard men’s basketball downs Yale on a dagger trey
In what may end up being the Ivy League game of the year, Harvard men’s basketball topped Yale, 67-65, on a 28-foot banked trey with under five seconds remaining by Harvard sophomore guard Tey Barbour before a raucous crowd of 2,425 at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
“Very disappointing loss for us. Hats off to Harvard,” Yale coach James Jones said after a long postgame talk with his team.