Yale at Oklahoma State
Sunday, Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m. EST
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Stillwater, Okla.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale's appearance in the NIT Season Tip-off begins with a trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where the Bulldogs face off against an undefeated Oklahoma State team on Sunday. Tipoff at the historic Gallagher-Iba Arena is set for 2:30 p.m. EST. ESPN+ has the video.
Yale (2-1) will pile up the mileage in its four NIT games. In addition to the trip to Stillwater, the Bulldogs travel to Penn State for a game on Nov. 23 and then play two games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney World in Florida on Nov. 25 and 26.
It's been an exciting start to the season for Yale, who has already played two games that have been decided in overtime – a 74-69 win over Stony Brook and an 84-79 loss to San Francisco. Sandwiched between those two thrillers was a 57-point victory over Oberlin in the home opener on Nov. 8.
The Bulldogs are coming off the loss at San Francisco on Monday. Despite the outcome, there were a number of positives Most notably, the strong play of sophomore
Matthue Cotton, who scored a career-high 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. It was Cotton's three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation that forced the extra period.
Yale also got another big game from
Paul Atkinson, who had 22 points and eight rebounds. In three games, Atkinson is shooting 58.8 percent from the field while averaging 20 points and 5.7 rebounds.
In addition to Atkinson,
Azar Swain (12.0 ppg.) and
Jordan Bruner (10.7 ppg.) average double figures in scoring. Bruner, the only returning starter from last year's Ivy League championship team, leads the team in rebounding (9.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (10). The game is a homecoming for Bruner, who was born in Oklahoma City and will have a number of family and friends in attendance. Point guard
Eric Monroe is off to a strong start as well. He has a team-best 14 assists and just two turnovers.
The Bulldogs are in the midst of the most successful era in the long history of Yale Basketball. Over the last five seasons, Yale has a remarkable 52-18 Ivy record. During that stretch, the Bulldogs have won three league titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances, including earning the first NCAA victory in school history, a 2016 win over Baylor. Yale nearly earned another NCAA victory last year but lost a close, first-round game to No. 3 seed LSU.
The Bulldogs have had success against power conference foes recently with victories over schools from the ACC (Miami), Big 12 (Baylor) and Pac 12 (Washington, California).
HISTORY LESSONS
The Bulldogs are making their second trip to Stillwater. Oklahoma State edged Yale 69-58 early in the 2002-03 season.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowboys returned all five starters from a year ago and welcomed a unanimous top-25 recruiting class, so it is not surprising that Oklahoma State is off to a 3-0 start, including an impressive 73-54 road win at Charleston on Wednesday. All five of the returning starters are averaging double figures in scoring, led by Lindy Water III at 16.0 ppg. The Cowboys feature one of the nation's top shot blockers in Yor Anei, who has 10 blocks in three games after ranking fourth nationally with a block percentage of 13.65 last season. Mike Boynton is in his third season at the helm of Oklahoma State's program after enjoying tremendous success leading Stephen F. Austin.
