Yale at Howard
Monday, Jan. 20, Noon
Washington, D.C.
Video | Live Stats
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Non-conference play has taken the Yale men's basketball team all over the country this season, from San Francisco to Oklahoma to Disney World. The final trip brings the Bulldogs to the nation's capital to face Howard in a Martin Luther King Day matinee. Tipoff is slated for noon at Howard's historic Burr Gymnasium. HUBison.com has the video.
 
The Bulldogs, who have won nine of their last 10 games, opened Ivy League play with a 70-56 win over Brown on Friday night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Yale limited the Bears to 34.6 percent shooting from the field in winning its league opener for the seventh straight year. The Bulldogs had a 31-28 lead at halftime and then outscored Brown 39-28 over the final 20 minutes.
 
Jordan Bruner led the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, but there were plenty of contributors. Paul Atkinson posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Jalen Gabbidon scored a career-high 12 points.
 
Yale is playing a non-conference game after beginning Ivy play for the first time since hosting Penn State in late January of 2001. The Bulldogs also have a chance to make history. A victory would give them 12 regular-season non-conference wins which would be a school record.
 
Yale is in the midst of the most successful era in the long history of the program. Over the last five seasons, the Bulldogs have captured three league championships and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Yale is the defending Ivy regular season and tournament champion, and despite losing four starters from the 2018-19 team, is very well positioned to again challenge for the league title. The Bulldogs (12-4) are ranked No. 58 in the NCAA Net Rating and No. 57 in the KenPom rankings. They are the highest ranked team in the Ivy League and New England in both rankings. In addition, Yale sits at a season-high No. 4 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major top-25 poll.
 
Yale's four losses have come by a combined 17 points, including a five-point overtime loss at San Francisco, a two-point loss at Penn State in a game the Bulldogs led for nearly 37 minutes and a three-point loss at North Carolina.
 
The Bulldogs have been one of the top defensive teams in the nation throughout the season. They lead the country in defensive rebounds per game (31.25), are third in field goal percentage defense (.361) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.268).
 
Individually, Atkinson is 12th in the nation in field goal percentage (.631).
 
Atkinson (16.2 ppg.), Azar Swain (15.1 ppg.) and Bruner (13.0 ppg.) all average double figures in scoring.
Bruner (9.5 rpg.) is the Ivy League's top rebounder.
 
The game is a homecoming for first year EJ Jarvis, who is from Washington, D.C., and was a three-time first team all-conference selection at the Maret School.
 
 HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Howard are playing for the first time.
 
SCOUTING HOWARD
 
Yale is the third Ivy League opponent for the Bison, who fell 55-50 to Harvard on Dec. 22 and 81-62 vs. Penn on Dec. 30. Howard is coming off a 68-58 loss at Morgan State on Saturday. Charles Williams (18.6 ppg.) leads the team in scoring. Kenneth Blakeney is in his first season the as the head coach of the Bison. He played at Duke under Mike Krzyzewski and has been an assistant coach at Harvard and Columbia.

A particularly appropriate stop on our visit to Washington DC this weekend.#ThisIsYale | #MartinLutherKingJrMemorial pic.twitter.com/EkQBsXd5G0

— Yale Men's Basketball (@YaleMBasketball) January 19, 2020