Penn at Yale
Friday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater
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Game Notes
 
Princeton at Yale
Saturday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater
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Proud to support National Girls and Women In Sports Day

???- https://t.co/ipFlPlhbE5#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/yl76DevuZE

— Yale Men's Basketball (@YaleMBasketball) February 26, 2020

 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – There is a lot at stake when Yale closes out the home portion of the regular season schedule this weekend at Lee Amphitheater. The Bulldogs host Penn on Friday and have a Saturday date with Princeton. Both are 7 p.m. starts with video available from ESPN+. Friday's game with Penn also will air nationally on Westwood One Radio with Lance Medow and Andy Katz on the call.
 
Yale (20-6, 8-2 Ivy) enters the weekend all alone in first place in the Ivy League, one game ahead of Harvard and Princeton, who both sit at 7-3. Brown (6-4) and Penn (5-5) are also battling for spots in the four-team Ivy League Tournament presented by TIAA. There are a number of scenarios this weekend where Yale can clinch a berth in Ivy Madness. The simplest to digest is with a win over Penn on Friday, the Bulldogs are in.

We host Princeton on Saturday, which happens to be February 29, so Boola has a special.

???- https://t.co/rGCll0fU5D#ThisIsYale pic.twitter.com/F2c9FAu48k

— Yale Men's Basketball (@YaleMBasketball) February 26, 2020

 
If everything breaks its way, Yale could also lock up the No. 1 seed in the tournament by the end of the weekend. That would require victories over Penn and Princeton and Harvard losses at Columbia and Cornell.
 
Saturday will be a special night regardless as Yale will honor three seniors making their final regular season appearance in the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Jordan Bruner, Eric Monroe and Austin Williams have combined to help the Bulldogs to 76 victories over the last four years. The Class of 2017 – Anthony Dallier and Sam Downey – is the winningest class in the modern history of Yale Basketball with 82 victories.
 
The 2020 Bulldogs reached 20 overall wins for the second straight year and fourth time in the last six years by sweeping Cornell and Columbia on the road last weekend. August Mahoney hit the game-winning shot with two seconds left in double overtime in the 81-80 victory over the Big Red last Friday. Bruner became the first Bulldog and just the third Ivy Leaguer to record a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
 
The next night Paul Atkinson scored the 1000th point of his career, and Azar Swain added 29 points as Yale rolled to an 83-65 victory over Columbia.
 
The Bulldogs, who have won four of their last five games, sit at No. 50 in the KenPom rankings and No. 60 in the NCAA Net Rating. In addition, Yale is No. 4 in the CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll and No. 14 in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25.
 
With a sweep this weekend, the Bulldogs would reach the 10-win mark in Ivy play for the second straight year and the fourth time in the last six years.
 
Yale is 8-1 at home this season and has outscored its opponents by more than 23 points per game.
 
NATIONAL LEADERS
 
Yale is second in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (30.19), 12th in scoring margin (+12.8), 13th in assists per game (16.3), 14th in field goal percentage defense (.387) and rebounding margin (+7.2) and 23rd in field goal percentage (.473).
 
Individually, Paul Atkinson is fourth in field goal percentage (.639), Azar Swain is eighth in three-point field goals made (3.32) and Jordan Bruner is 24th in defensive rebounds per game (7.25).
 
IVY LEAGUE LEADERS
 
The Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in scoring offense (77.2 ppg.), scoring margin (+12.8), field goal percentage (.473), field goal percentage defense (.387), three-point field goal percentage (.370), three-point field goal percentage defense (.301), rebounding margin (+7.2) and assists (16.3 per game).
 
Individually, Yale features the league leader in rebounding – Jordan Bruner (9.1 rpg.) – field goal percentage – Paul Atkinson (.639) – assists – Eric Monroe (4.7 per game) – and three-point field goals made – Azar Swain (3.3 per game).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale has swept the Penn-Princeton home weekend in eight of the last nine years, including each of the last two years.
 
The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight meetings with Penn at Lee Amphitheater, including a 78-65 victory last year when four Bulldogs scored in double figures. The Quakers, though, won the first meeting this year, 69-61 at the Palestra two weekends ago. Yale had a 58-53 lead with five minutes left, but the Quakers scored the next 11 points. Penn leads the all-time series 151-81.
 
Yale has won five straight games over Princeton, including an 88-64 victory two weeks ago at Jadwin Gym. Five Bulldogs scored in double figures, including Azar Swain who finished with 23 points. Yale has won eight of the last nine meetings with the Tigers at Lee Amphitheater, including an 83-77 win in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament last March. Princeton leads the all-time series 150-83.
 
SCOUTING PENN
 
The Quakers (13-10, 5-5 Ivy) are led by AJ Brodeur, who is among the Ivy League leaders in scoring (16.5 ppg., 6th), rebounding (9.0 rpg., 2nd), assists (4.7 per game, t-1st) and blocked shots (41, t-3rd). Brodeur had 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the first meeting with the Bulldogs. Jordan Dingle (14.0 ppg.) and Devon Goodman (13.6 ppg.) also average double figures in scoring. The Quakers are second in the league in three-point field goals made (8.6 per game).
 
SCOUTING PRINCETON
 
The Tigers (12-11, 7-3 Ivy) play at Brown on Friday. Princeton split a pair of close games last weekend, falling 61-60 at Harvard before edging Dartmouth 65-62. The Tigers are second in the Ivy League in three-point field goal percentage (.341) and free throw percentage (.717). Jaelin Llewellyn (14.4 ppg.) leads three Tigers averaging double figures in scoring. Richmond Aririguzoh (13.0 ppg.) and Ryan Schwieger (11.4 ppg.) are the others.