No. 2 Yale vs. No. 3 Penn
Sat., Mar. 12 – 2 p.m.
Cambridge, Mass.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It's March and the Yale men's basketball team finds itself in a familiar spot this time of year – in strong contention for a post season berth. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed in this weekend's Ivy League Tournament. Yale plays No. 3 seed Penn at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a spot in Sunday's noon championship game at stake. No. 1 Princeton and No. 4 Cornell meet in the other semifinal at 11 a.m. The winner of the tournament earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. ESPNU will televise Saturday's semifinal game, while Sunday's championship game airs on ESPN2.
 
The Bulldogs have appeared in all three previous Ivy Tournaments, including winning in 2019 and advancing to the championship game in 2017. Yale's success in Ivy play, though, extends long before the advent of the tournament. Over the last seven seasons, the Bulldogs have posted a 74-24 (.755) 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 – over Baylor in 2016.
 
Under the direction of James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, Yale has finished fourth or better in a remarkable 21 straight seasons. The Bulldogs have finished third or better in each of the last eight seasons, have posted at least 10 wins in five of the last seven seasons and have had a winning Ivy mark in 10 straight seasons.
 
This year's team combines a mix of veterans and youngsters. Two starters – Azar Swain, a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, and Jalen Gabbidon, a second team All-Ivy pick – are seniors, but there are also two rookies in the starting five – Bez Mbeng and Matt Knowling.
 
Defense has been one of the keys to this year's success. Yale leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage defense (.424) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.303). In 14 Ivy games, Yale limited opponents to 42.6 percent from the field and 27.9 percent from three-point range.
 
Yale enters the tournament with positive momentum after closing the regular season with a 74-65 victory over Brown at Lee Amphitheater last Saturday. The Bulldogs were in control throughout against the Bears. They led for nearly 38 of the 40 minutes, shot 46 percent from the field and had 15 assists on their 27 field goals.
 
Swain, who scored 22 points in the win over Brown, leads the team in scoring at 18.9 ppg., which is second in the Ivy League. Gabbidon (11.9 ppg.) is the other double figure scorer. EJ Jarvis (4.6 rpg.) leads the team in rebounding, while Swain has a team-high 46 assists.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Penn split the season series with each team winning on its home floor. Jordan Dingle scored 31 points to lead the Quakers to a 76-68 victory at the Palestra on Jan. 22. Less than a month later in New Haven, Jalen Gabbidon scored a career-high 32 points as the Bulldogs won 81-72 in a highly entertaining affair. Gabbidon, who had 21 points in the game in Philadelphia, averaged 26.5 points in the two games with the Quakers. The home team has won the last nine games in the series. Penn holds a 152-83 overall advantage. The first game between the teams came in 1897. Yale and Penn have played once before in the Ivy Tournament, an 80-57 Quakers victory in the semifinals in 2018.
 
SCOUTING PENN
 
The Quakers (12-15, 9-5 Ivy) feature the Ivy League's leading scorer in unanimous first team All-Ivy selection Jordan Dingle (20.6 ppg.). Dingle scored 31 points in his first meeting with the Bulldogs this season but was held to 10 when the team's met at Lee Amphitheater. Clark Slajchert (11.0 ppg.) and Max Martz (10.1 ppg.) also average double figures in scoring. Martz (5.0 rpg.) is the team's leading rebounder. The Quakers played a challenging non-conference schedule that included games against Florida State, George Mason, Davidson, Arkansas, Villanova and Temple.
 
SCOUTING THE FIELD
 
Princeton (22-5 overall) earned the tournament's No. 1 seed by posting a 12-2 Ivy mark. The Tigers feature Ivy League Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan, who led the league in assists (5.0 per game), was second in field goal percentage (.532), fourth in scoring (15.4 ppg.) and seventh in rebounding (6.4 rpg.). Princeton leads the league in scoring offense (80.6 ppg.) and field goal percentage (.490). The Tigers also made a league-best 297 three-pointers.
 
Cornell (15-10, 7-7 Ivy) is the surprise entrant in the tournament. The Big Red was picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason media poll. Head coach Brian Earl was selected as the Ivy League Coach of the Year. Despite not having an individual scorer among the top 15 in the Ivy, Cornell ranks second in the league in scoring (79.4 ppg.). Its 15-10 overall record guarantees the program its first winning season since the 2009-10 NCAA Sweet 16 team. Dean Noll earned second team All-Ivy honors for the Big Red.