Yale at Albany
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Albany, N.Y.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats
Yale Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It's back to the road for the Yale men's basketball team. The Bulldogs, who earned an impressive 65-52 victory over Vermont on Sunday at Lee Amphitheater, travel to upstate New York to face Albany on Wednesday. Tipoff at SEFCU Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m. ESPN+ has the video.
 
Yale (6-3) has won three straight games and four of its last five. The only blemish was a two-point loss at Penn State in a game where the Bulldogs had the lead for nearly 38 minutes. Yale's three losses have come to San Francisco, in overtime, Oklahoma State and Penn State. All three of those games were decided in the final minutes, and combined, those teams currently have a 20-2 record.
 
Yale, which won't play another home game until Jan. 12, moved into the CollegeInsider Mid Major top-25 poll this week, sitting at No.20.
 
The Bulldogs are thriving in the principles head coach James Jones emphasizes the most – rebounding, defense and sharing the ball. Yale leads the Ivy League in rebounding (+5.1) and field goal percentage defense (.346) and is second in assists (15.4 per game).
 
Yale has been among the nation's top defensive teams. The Bulldogs are sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense, ninth in total rebounds (372), 15th in three-point field goal percentage defense and 25th in total blocks (42).
 
Offensively, three Bulldogs average double figures in scoring, led by Paul Atkinson at 17.6 ppg. Atkinson, who was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday, leads the league and is 23rd nationally in field goal percentage at .638. Over his last two games, he is 16-of-19 from the field.
 
Azar Swain (14.9 ppg.) and Jordan Bruner (10.9 ppg.) are the other double figure scorers. Bruner also leads the league in rebounding (9.7 rpg.) and blocked shots (24).
 
The game with Albany is a homecoming for Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. Jones is a 1986 Albany graduate and also served as an assistant coach for the Great Danes for five seasons. He played for and coached with the legendary Dr. Richard Sauers, one of only a handful of collegiate coaches to win more than 700 games. At Yale, Jones is the winningest coach in school history, the second winningest coach in Ivy League history and a two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Albany have played every year since the 2013-14 season. The home team has won all but one of those games. Last year at Lee Amphitheater, Paul Atkinson scored 20 points as the Bulldogs rolled to a 71-63 victory. The first meeting between the teams came in 2000.
 
SCOUTING ALBANY
 
The Great Danes (5-3) have won three straight games, including a 68-64 victory over American on Saturday. Albany has two players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Cameron Healy at 18.0 ppg. Ahmad Clark averages 14.4 points and 4.1 assists. The Great Danes are 3-1 at the SEFCU Arena this season. Albany was picked fourth in the America East preseason coaches' poll. Albany has won 20 games seven times under Will Brown, who is in his 19^th season as the head coach.