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With the exception of a few high-profile bloviators, most people around college basketball (and everyone that regularly reads this blog, for that matter) knew that Yale had a solid shot against Baylor on Thursday.
We all know that the Bulldogs delivered — and have about as favorable a matchup as they could possibly get in the round of 32, getting a Duke team they’ve already faced.
Having had the opportunity to watch both teams play in the round of 64 on Thursday in Providence, I’ve come up with a bit of a game plan for Yale to become the first Ivy team to reach the Sweet Sixteen since Cornell made its magical run in 2010.
Yale lost to Duke in November, 80-61, with the Blue Devils shooting 48.3 percent from the floor, including 58.3 percent from two-point range. Duke scored 1.19 points per possession against the Bulldogs, with four Dukies scoring at least 12 points. Indeed, Duke’s offense is its calling card, as coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad ranks fourth in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency and fifth in offensive turnover percentage. Duke is also 26th nationally in three-point percentage. The Dukies’ offense is disciplined, efficient and potent from long range.
But the Elis match up well with the Blue Devils in three key areas and will defeat Duke if it can capitalize on them:
As Brandon Sherrod iced Baylor from the foul line Thursday afternoon, two thoughts quickly popped into the minds of Ivy basketball enthusiasts. First, a sense of shock that Yale had actually pulled off the upset and second, that next in line for the Elis was Duke, one of the bluest of college basketball’s bluebloods.
The question posed to all non-Yale Ivy fans was, do we root for team loyalty or conference loyalty? You, the esteemed reader, might be dealing with this dilemma yourself. Is it really worth rooting for Duke (Duke!) just for the sake of hoping a conference rival doesn’t make it past the first weekend? Here to tackle this issue are two Columbia fans who are definitely not bitter that their team has not made the tournament in their lifetimes while others experience joy: Miles Johnson is taking the pro-Yale (or at least anti-Duke) side, and Sam Tydings would rather see Grayson Allen smile than Yale advance to the Sweet 16.
Yale made history just by showing up. Then the Bulldogs made a whole lot more.
In Yale’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1962, the Bulldogs won their first contest in the tourney ever, besting the Bears, 79-75, after leading most of the way in front of a Yale partisan crowd at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence.
Here we are.
Yale makes its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1962 Thursday at 2:45 p.m., a virtual home game for the No. 12 Bulldogs against the No. 5 Baylor Bears. The Bears will be attempting to gain revenge from a first-round upset at the hands of upstart Georgia Southern last year. The Bears have enjoyed success in the Big Dance under 13-year coach Scott Drew, going to the Elite Eight in 2010 and 2012. But then-No. 3 Baylor got upset by No. 14 Georgia State in Athens, Ga. in the Bears’ first NCAA contest last season, an eerily similar virtual road matchup with an underdog foe to the threat posed by Yale in Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this season.
The game should be low-scoring, which will favor the Elis. Both teams turn the ball over too much (Yale ranks 296th in the country in turnover percentage, Baylor ranks 228th), but Yale has shot the ball better, especially from two-point range against high-major competition.
A lawyer for former Yale team captain Jack Montague disputed claims that Montague sexually assaulted another student in a statement Monday morning.
No. 12 Yale (22-6, 13-1 Ivy) will play No. 5 Baylor (22-11, 10-8 Big 12) Thursday at 2:45 p.m. in the West Region in Providence in the Bulldogs’ first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1962. The game will be televised on CBS.
The site of the game is most favorable to Yale, which has only a 100-mile distance to Providence, where the Elis trounced Brown in January, 90-66.
If Yale were to upset Baylor, it would likely face No. 4 Duke in the second round four months after the Blue Devils defeated Yale at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 80-61, even after the Bulldogs grabbed an early 9-0 lead and impressed Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski enough for him to say that Justin Sears would start for his team.
The Yale Daily News confirmed Wednesday what many already suspected: Jack Montague, former captain of the Yale men’s basketball team, was expelled from the university for sexual misconduct on Feb. 10.
The student who filed the November complaint declined to comment to the News for its story, as did Montague, the publication said.
In a statement released by Yale Assistant Director for Sports Publicity Tim Bennett Wednesday, the Yale men’s basketball team apologized “for the hurt we have caused” in its show of support for Jack Montague, who was supposedly expelled from the university last month:
Yale Men’s Basketball fully supports a healthy, safe and respectful campus climate where all students can flourish,” the statement said. “Our recent actions to show our support for one of our former teammates were not intended to suggest otherwise, but we understand that to many students they did. We apologize for the hurt we have caused, and we look forward to learning and growing from these recent incidents. As student representatives of Yale we hope to use our positions on and off the court in a way that can make everyone proud.