Yale at Harvard
Wednesday, Feb. 9 – 7 p.m.
Cambridge, Mass.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team begins the second half of Ivy League play the same way the first half ended – facing Harvard. The Bulldogs knocked off the Crimson 58-55 on Saturday at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. On Wednesday, the teams meet again, this time in Cambridge. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ESPN+ will stream the game live.
 
The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 9 but had to be postponed.
 
Yale (12-9 overall) has won four straight games and sits atop the Ivy League standings with a 6-1 mark.
 
Saturday's victory over Harvard completed an impressive weekend sweep for the Bulldogs, who beat Dartmouth 72-69 on Friday. Although the final margins were close, Yale had a double-digit advantage in the second half of each game and had the lead for 70 of the 80 minutes in the two games. For the weekend, the Bulldogs were +7 in rebounding margin and limited their opponents to 37.1 percent shooting from the field.
 
Strong defense is nothing new for Yale, which leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage defense (.415) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.309). Those numbers are even better in league play. Through seven games, Ivy opponents are shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 27.4 percent from three-point range. The Bulldogs have a +4.4 rebounding margin in league games, and on the season are 9-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
 
Azar Swain, who averaged 20.1 points in the weekend sweep and was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll, continues to lead the league in scoring at 19.7 ppg., which is 26th in the nation. Swain also is among the nation's leaders in free throw percentage. He sits 11th at 91.3 percent after going 19-for-19 over the weekend.
 
Matt Knowling, who joined Swain on the Honor Roll, continues to make an impact in Ivy play. In seven league games, he is averaging 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds after averaging 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds during non-conference play.
 
Yale, the preseason Ivy League favorite, is in the midst of the most successful era in the long history of the program. Over the last 6+ seasons, the Bulldogs have a remarkable 69-22 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.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Harvard are playing back-to-back games against each other for the first time since the end of the 1963 season. The Bulldogs won both games that year – 56-52 in New Haven on Mar. 2 and 80-76 three days later in Cambridge. Those two victories earned Yale a share of the Ivy League title with Princeton. Saturday's victory was the 122^nd for the Bulldogs over Harvard, the most against any opponent. Yale is trying to sweep the regular season series from the Crimson for the first time since 2016.
 
SCOUTING HARVARD
 
The Crimson (11-8, 3-4 Ivy) won at Brown, 65-50, on Friday night, prior to making the trip to New Haven. After playing five road contests in the first half of Ivy League play, the game vs. Yale represents a shift as the Crimson will finish the campaign with five of seven at home. This season, Harvard is 7-3 at Lavietes Pavilion. Noah Kirkwood, who scored 21 points on Saturday against Yale, leads the Crimson in scoring at 17.8 ppg. He has scored 998 career points. Harvard is third in the league in scoring offense (73.3 ppg.) and second in scoring defense (68.6 ppg.).