Home of the Roundball Poets
Ivy Hoops Online caught up with Yale coach James Jones Wednesday following his return from Spokane, Wash., where his team notched the second ever NCAA Tournament win in program history last week with a triumph over Auburn before falling to San Diego State in the Round of 32:
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.
YALE HAS DONE IT pic.twitter.com/ZXVxtygrAT
— CBS Sports College Basketball (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2024
“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.
.@YaleMBasketball showing some love to their head coach James Jones ♥️ pic.twitter.com/ffaaBl4rZ2
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 22, 2024
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.
Yale men’s basketball coach James Jones is preparing to coach his fifth NCAA Tournament game after his team won the Ivy League Tournament in dramatic fashion Monday.
Yale’s Big Dance foe this time around is Auburn, with Yale allotted a No. 13 seed in the East Region and playing in Spokane, Wash.
Jones sat down with Ivy Hoops Online Tuesday in advance of its last practice in New Haven before departing on an NCAA charter flight. The Bulldogs, like all NCAA Tournament teams, were allotted 350 tickets and expect to have many fans present from Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest Yale Club. Yale played in Spokane in November at Gonzaga, losing 86-71.
The Princeton and Cornell men had disappointing exits from the Ivy Madness semifinals, but their seasons aren’t over. The Tigers and the Big Red have both earned bids to the National Invitational Tournament.
Yale men’s basketball is headed west to play in the East.
The Bulldogs’ fourth NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016 will begin in Spokane, Wash., where Yale will face No. 4 Auburn as a No. 13 seed in the East Region. Tip-off time has yet to be released.
THE WINNING BASKET#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/o9eLNHo7qR
— Yale Men’s Basketball (@YaleMBasketball) March 17, 2024
Cornell men’s basketball was 14-0 when giving up 76 or fewer points this season.
Make that 14-1, as Yale defeated the Big Red, 69-57, at Levien Gym to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final against Brown at noon Sunday.
The men’s competition in the Ivy League Tournament kicks off on Saturday afternoon at Columbia University and for the first time since the advent of Ivy Madness there is no clear favorite. While the Princeton Tigers enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed and the regular season champion, each of the four teams competing on Saturday at Levien Gym legitimately has a chance to advance to the championship game on Sunday.
Let’s take a closer look at the two semifinal matchups in the men’s competition:
Heading into the final day of the regular season, the Cornell men still had an outside shot at a share of the Ivy League regular-season title. For starters, the Big Red needed to beat Columbia. That happened.
Cornell shot 55% from the field and six players scored in double digits as the Big Red won 98-76. Sophomore guard Cooper Noard had 17 points off five triples, junior guard Nazir Williams and senior forward Sean Hansen each had 14 and junior forward Guy Ragland Jr. scored 13.
Then, the Big Red needed Yale to lose to Brown — which also happened as Aaron Cooley sunk an improbable last-second shot in overtime. Lastly, Princeton needed to lose to Penn, but that didn’t happen as the Tigers dropped 105 on the Red and Blue.