Johnson & Wales at Yale
Sunday, Jan. 12, 2 p.m.
New Haven, Conn.
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Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It's been 41 days since the Bulldogs last played in the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Back on Dec. 1 Yale rolled to an impressive 65-52 victory over Vermont. Now they are set to kick off the 2020 portion of the schedule in the historic building on Sunday when Johnson & Wales visits for a 2 p.m. tipoff in the final non-conference home game of the season. ESPN+ has the video. It's Super Hero Day at Lee. There is free admission for children dressed as super heroes and the first 100 children receive a free cape.
 
Yale (10-4) hasn't played a game anywhere since falling 70-67 at North Carolina on Dec. 30. The loss snapped the Bulldogs' seven-game winning streak but did nothing to diminish what has been a very strong start to the season. Yale currently sits at No. 57 in the NCAA Net ratings, the highest of any New England school, No. 60 in the KenPom rankings and is No. 6 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
 
Victories over Johnson & Wales and at Howard on Jan. 20 would give the Bulldogs 12 non-conference wins, the most in the regular season by a Yale team since the official start of Ivy League play in 1956-57.
 
Sunday is the final tune up before the start of Ivy League play next Friday vs. Brown. Yale is the defending Ivy champion, although four starters from last year's team have moved on. The four – Alex Copeland, Miye Oni, Trey Phills and Blake Reynolds – combined for 4,154 career points, 1,545 rebounds, 897 assists and 310 starts in their careers.
 
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, though, has built a program where there is talent waiting in the wings. This year's edition of the Bulldogs features the Ivy League leader in rebounding – Jordan Bruner (9.6 rpg.) -- field goal percentage – Paul Atkinson (.645) -- and three-point field goals made – Azar Swain (42).
 
In addition, Yale has been one of the top defensive teams in the nation. The Bulldogs are fourth in defensive rebounds per game (30.93), ninth in field goal percentage defense (.366) and 16th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.273).
 
Yale has allowed an opponent to shoot 40 percent or better from the field just four times.
 
The Bulldogs' four losses have come by a combined 17 points, including a five-point overtime loss at San Francisco and a two-point loss at Penn State, which is ranked No. 20 in the nation this week. Yale led the Nittany Lions for nearly 37 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs are 3-0 at home this season with an average margin of victory of 27.0 points. Yale, though, did need triple overtime to defeat Siena 100-89 back on Nov. 20, one of four overtime games on the season.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Johnson & Wales are playing for the first time.
 
SCOUTING JOHNSON & WALES
 
The Wildcats are playing their second Ivy League opponent of the week. They dropped a 79-53 decision at Brown on Tuesday. The Wildcats have a 7-5 overall record and host Regis on Saturday. Brian Hogan-Gary (23.8 ppg.) leads the team in scoring. Nate Patenaude (10.6 ppg.) is the only other double-figure scorer. Jamie Benton, who played at Boston College in the mid-1980s, is in his 16^th season as the head coach at Johnson & Wales.