Yale at Fairfield
Monday, Dec. 12 – 7 p.m.
Fairfield, Conn.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team is back on the road on Monday. The Bulldogs, though, won't have to travel far. They will make a 25-mile drive down I-95 to face Fairfield at the new Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and ESPN+ has the video.
 
A road game in the state of Connecticut is a welcome opportunity for Yale, which will be playing an in-state opponent for the first time since the 2016-17 season. The Bulldogs beat three Division I state schools (Sacred Heart, Central Connecticut and Hartford) that year and have won 11 straight games against Connecticut opponents, including a 45-44 win at UConn in 2014.
 
Of course, Yale has had great success against all opponents recently. Over the last seven seasons, the Bulldogs have posted a 74-24 (.755) Ivy League record, won four Ivy championships, two Ivy League Tournament titles and earned four NCAA Tournament berths, including notching the first NCAA victory in school history – over Baylor in 2016.
 
Yale won 19 games a year ago, captured the Ivy League Tournament title with a thrilling victory over Princeton in the championship game and earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the third straight season.
 
The Bulldogs, who don't have a home game in the month of December, are in the middle of a stretch of six straight road games. Yale (8-3) is coming off competitive losses to Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse and Kentucky at Rupp Arena.
 
Butler used a strong start and some clutch shooting down the stretch to escape with a 71-61 victory last Tuesday. After falling behind 22-7 early, the Bulldogs made several pushes, and when Bez Mbeng drove to the basket and scored with 3:24 left, Yale was within eight and seemed to have the momentum on its side. Simon Lukosius, though, hit back-to-back long three-pointers late in the shot clock to seal the victory for Butler.
 
Against No. 16 Kentucky on Saturday, the Bulldogs had a two-point lead early in the second half but had trouble containing Oscar Tshiebwe, last year's national player of the year, who scored 22 of his 28 points in the second half as the Wildcats pulled out a 69-59 victory.
 
Yale's only other blemish on the season was a close, 65-62 loss at Colorado over Thanksgiving weekend. The Bulldogs' three losses have come to teams with a combined 20-10 overall record.
 
The Bulldogs have been dominant in a majority of their eight victories. They are 11th in the nation in scoring margin (19.5). Yale also is eighth nationally in scoring defense (57.0 ppg.) and 15th in rebound margin (+9.6). In addition, the Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in blocks (59), field goal percentage defense (.382), three-point field goal percentage defense (.292) and fewest turnovers (11.3 per game).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Fairfield are playing for the first time since 2015, a 70-57 Bulldog victory at Central Connecticut in the Connecticut 6 Classic. Makai Mason '18 scored 23 points to lead Yale. Later that season, Mason would score 31 points in the Bulldogs' 79-75 victory over Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Yale has won three of the last four meetings with the Stags. Fairfield, though, leads the series 13-10. The first meeting between the teams was in January of 1977.
 
SCOUTING FAIRFIELD
 
The Stags (4-6) are coming off a 61-59 victory over Sacred Heart last Wednesday. Caleb Fields hit the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds left as Fairfield scored the final seven points of the game. Fields leads the team in scoring at 15.1 ppg. Supreme Cook (11.8 ppg.) also averages double figures and is the Stags' leading rebounder (8.0 rpg.). Fairfield is playing its third game in its new home – the Leo D. Mahoney Arena, an 85,000 square foot, 3,500 -seat multi use space in the heart of campus. Jay Young is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Stags.