YALE at GONZAGA
Fri., Nov. 10 – 9 p.m. EST
Spokane, Wash.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
YALE at LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Sun., Nov. 12 – 6 p.m. EST
Los Angeles, Calif.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Success came pretty easily for the Yale men's basketball team in its season opener on Monday, a 102-53 victory over Vassar at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Games two and three figure to present a little bigger challenge. The Bulldogs travel across the country to meet perennial national power Gonzaga, ranked No. 11, on Friday at 9 p.m. EST and Loyola Marymount, No. 15 in the College Insider preseason mid major top 25, on Sunday at 6 p.m. EST. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
• Three Bulldogs scored in double figures and 15 scored in all as Yale cruised against Vassar.
Nick Townsend scored 13 points to lead the balanced attack, while
Bez Mbeng and
John Poulakidas each added 12.
• Three Bulldogs made their debut on Monday.
Samson Aletan had an immediate impact as his first two baskets were dunks. He finished 3-of-3 from the field.
Casey Simmons, who transferred from Northwestern, contributed four points and four rebounds in 14 minutes, and
Trevor Mullin scored the first basket of his career.
• Yale has now won its season opener in seven of the last eight seasons.
• The Bulldogs are coming off a highly successful 2022-23 season that saw them win 21 games, share the Ivy League title with Princeton and advance to the postseason National Invitation Tournament.
• Yale, ranked No. 9 in the preseason College Insider Mid Major Top-25 poll, is the Ivy League favorite. The Bulldogs were selected first in the league's official preseason media poll, released in October. Yale, which had 124 points, received 14 of the 16 first-place votes. The other two first-place votes went to Princeton, which had 110 points and is projected to finish second. Cornell (80 points) is third followed by Brown (77), Penn (68), Harvard (66), Dartmouth (28) and Columbia (23).
• The Bulldogs are in the midst of the most successful era in the long history of the program. Over the last eight seasons, Yale has posted an 84-28 (.750) Ivy League record, won five Ivy championships, two Ivy League Tournament titles and earned three NCAA Tournament berths, including notching the first NCAA victory in school history – over Baylor in 2016. Yale also was set to appear in the NCAA Tournament in 2020 but it was canceled due to the pandemic.
•
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, is the winningest men's basketball coach in school history and the second winningest coach in Ivy League history. He has guided the Bulldogs to six Ivy League championships – 2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023 - three NCAA Tournament berths – 2016, 2019, 2022 - and seven postseason appearances. In addition, he is a four-time Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2020, 2023) and also has been named the NABC District 13 Coach of the Year three times.
HISTORY LESSONS
The Bulldogs are playing their second game against Gonzaga and making their third trip to Spokane. In the 1991 Shootout Spokane Tournament, Yale fell to Gonzaga 70-59. The Bulldogs played in the tournament again to open the 1994-95 season but didn't play Gonzaga.
Yale and Loyola Marymount are playing for the first time.
SCOUTING GONZAGA
Gonzaga, which won an exhibition game over Lewis-Clark State, last Saturday is playing its season opener. The Zags have won 17 straight regular season-openers dating back to a 73-66 loss to Saint Joseph's in the 2003 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York City. Gonzaga has won all 17 regular season home-openers in the McCarthey Athletic Center and have won all 24 regular season home-openers under Head Coach Mark Few. Gonzaga welcomes in Ryan Nembhard, a transfer from Creighton who was recently named to the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy preseason watch list. The Zags are No. 11 in the Associated Press preseason poll entering the year. The Bulldogs' 134 straight AP Poll appearances top the nation, with Houston's 65 consecutive appearances as the next best.
SCOUTING LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
LMU opened its season with a 109-68 victory over Westcliff on Tuesday night. Jamal Briscoe and Justin Boateng each scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures. Keli Leaupepe was named to the All-WCC preseason team. He entered the season with a 1,141 career points. The Lions were selected fourth in the WCC preseason poll. LMU finished 19-12 last year overall and 9-7 in the WCC.
