YALE at SANTA CLARA
Sat., Dec. 30 – 7 p.m. EST
Santa, Clara, Calif.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Yale men's basketball team closes out the 2023 portion of the schedule in Northern California. The Bulldogs face Santa Clara on Saturday at 4 p.m. PST at the Leavey Center in a game that can be viewed on ESPN+.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
 
• Yale (7-6) last played on Dec. 22, a 75-60 loss at No. 2 Kansas in a game that was closer than the final score indicates. The Bulldogs had a 33-32 halftime lead, and the score was tied at 41 midway through the second half.
 
• Bez Mbeng and August Mahoney were each named to the Ivy League Honor Roll on Tuesday. Both scored 13 points against Kansas. Mbeng, the 2023 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, added five assists and three steals, while Mahoney was 3-of-5 from three-point range.
 
• Mbeng is in the top 10 in the Ivy League in several categories, including scoring (10th, 13.5 ppg.), assists (3rd, 3.5 per game), free throw percentage (7th, .700), steals (1st, 26) and assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.80).
 
• Mahoney (.429), John Poulakidas (.415) and Danny Wolf (.433) are all shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range.
 
• Mahoney is closing in on Yale's top-10 career three-pointers made list. He has 121 career treys and needs 19 more to crack the top-10 all-time at Yale. Mahoney's 43.7 percent career three-point percentage is currently the fourth best in school history.
 
• Wolf scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and had four blocks against Kansas. He is second in the league in rebounding (8.8 rpg.), third in field goal percentage (.493) and is the league leader with 20 blocks. Wolf has scored in double figures in 10 straight games.
 
• Both Yale and Santa Clara are approaching the start of league play. The Broncos play their WCC opener next Thursday at Loyola Marymount. The Bulldogs have one more test – at Howard next Wednesday – before their first Ivy League game on Jan. 9 at Brown.

HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale is playing in the Leavey Center for the third time. The first two games came in the 2004 Cable Car Classic when the Bulldogs fell to UNC Charlotte 80-74 in the first round but rallied to beat Santa Clara in a 90-84 overtime thriller. This is the third all-time meeting between Yale and Santa Clara. In addition to the 2004 game, the Bulldogs defeated the Broncos 86-67 in the championship game of the 1955 Orange Bowl Classic in Miami when Santa Clara was three years removed from reaching the 1952 NCAA Final Four.
 
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
 
The Broncos (9-5) are coming off an 81-73 victory over Duquesne last Saturday in Las Vegas. Santa Clara leads the WCC in three-point field goal percentage at .384, which is 23rd in the nation, and is second in the league in scoring offense (78.5). The Broncos are 9-0 when holding opponents under 80 points. Santa Clara opened the season with six straight victories, including wins over Stanford and Oregon. The Broncos are 5-1 at home. Adama-Alpha Bal (15.7 ppg.) leads the team in scoring, while Carlos Marshall, Jr. (15.3 ppg.) also averages double figures. Marshall has a made a team-best 31 three-pointers. The Broncos, under eighth-year head coach Herb Sendek, are coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and third-place finishes in the WCC, as well as consecutive appearances in the National Invitation Tournament.