Yale at Dartmouth
Tues., Feb. 22
Hanover, N.H.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team begins the stretch drive of the regular season with a trip to Dartmouth on Tuesday. Tip off at Leede Arena is slated for 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 7 but was postponed. ESPN+ will stream Tuesday's game live.
 
The Bulldogs, playing their third game in five days, enter in a first-place tie with Princeton. Both teams are 9-2, while Penn sits a half-game behind at 9-3. All three have clinched a berth in Ivy Madness, but the No. 1 seed and the Ivy League regular season title are very much up for grabs.
 
In addition to Tuesday's game, Yale is at Cornell on Saturday and home against Brown on Mar. 5. Princeton plays back-to-back games with Harvard – Friday at Jadwin Gym and Sunday in Cambridge – and is at Penn to close the regular season on Mar. 5. The Quakers are at Dartmouth this Saturday before hosting the Tigers in the regular season finale.
 
Yale had its seven-game winning streak snapped in an 81-75 loss to Princeton on Saturday at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Bulldogs, though, have already clinched their 11th straight winning season in Ivy play and are seeking their third straight season with at least 10 conference wins.
 
The architect of that success, James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, is approaching a milestone as well. Jones currently has 189 Ivy League victories and with one more would tie Fran Dunphy, the former head coach at Penn, for the second most in league history.
                                                                                                                                                                                       
Jones is currently presiding over the most successful era in the long history of the program.  Over the last 6+ seasons, the Bulldogs have a remarkable 72-23 Ivy record. During that stretch, they have won four league titles and earned three NCAA Tournament berths, including notching the first NCAA victory in school history.
 
Defense has been one of the keys to this year's success. The Bulldogs lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.420) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.312).
 
Offensively, three Bulldogs – Azar Swain (18.2 ppg.), Jalen Gabbidon (15.4 ppg.) and Matt Knowling (11.5 ppg.) - are averaging double figures in scoring in league games. Swain (37 vs. Columbia) and Gabbidon (32 vs. Penn) – both have 30+ point games on their resumes. Overall, Swain leads the team in scoring at 18.9 ppg., which is second in the league.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
The Bulldogs have won 11 straight games overall vs. Dartmouth, including a 72-69 victory at Lee Amphitheater on Feb. 4.  Azar Swain scored 25 points, including going 14-of-14 from the free throw line – to lead the way. The last meeting in Hanover in 2020 was memorable for Yale, which clinched the 2020 Ivy League regular season title with a 72-61 win at Leede Arena. Swain scored 14 points, and Jalen Gabbidon had nine in that victory. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with Dartmouth 120-97. The first meeting came in 1900, a 10-8 Yale win in a game played in Boston.
 
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH
 
The Big Green (7-15, 4-7 Ivy) is coming off a home weekend sweep of Cornell and Columbia and is still alive for the fourth and final spot in Ivy Madness. Dartmouth is tied with Cornell (5-7) in the loss column and one-game behind fourth-place Harvard (5-6). Four of the Big Green's seven Ivy losses have been by four points or less. Brendan Barry, who scored 25 points in the first meeting with Yale, leads the team at 14.5 ppg. Aaryn Rai (11.3 ppg.) also averages double figures. Dartmouth leads the league in free throw percentage at .757.