YALE at VANDERBILT
Tues., Mar. 14 – 9 p.m. EDT
Nashville, Tenn.
TV: ESPNU
ESPNU Video | Live Stats | Yale Game Notes
 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It's been more than 20 years since the Yale men's basketball team played in its first and only National Invitation Tournament. It was a memorable experience as the Bulldogs upset Rutgers in the first round, the first post season victory in school history, and then hosted Tennessee Tech in the second round, playing at the old New Haven Coliseum in front of the largest home crowd ever to watch a Yale game. Yale hopes to make more memories this year, and the journey starts on Tuesday when the Bulldogs face Vanderbilt in the first round of the 2023 NIT. Tipoff is slated for 9 p.m. EDT, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
 
Since that first appearance, Yale has been a more frequent participant in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs were the Ivy League's representative in each of the last three seasons, including in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the pandemic. In all, Yale has earned four automatic bids since 2016 when the Bulldogs upset Baylor in the first round, the first NCAA victory in school history.
 
Yale nearly made a return trip to the NCAA Tournament this year but fell to Princeton in the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament on Sunday at Jadwin Gym, the Tigers' home court.
 
All of the success has come under the direction of James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, who was named the 2023 Ivy League Coach of the Year, the fourth time he has been honored. Jones, who is in his 24th season at Yale, is the winningest coach in school history and the second winningest coach in Ivy League history, behind only Pete Carril of Princeton.
 
Over the last eight seasons, Jones has guided the Bulldogs to an 84-28 (.750) Ivy League record, five Ivy championships, two Ivy League Tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament berths.
 
This season Yale has a 21-8 overall record and won a share of the Ivy regular season title, finishing at 10-4. The Bulldogs have excelled in the three principles Jones values the most – rebounding, defense and sharing the ball. The Bulldogs are 17th in the nation in rebound margin (+6.2), 11th in field goal percentage defense (.395) and 24th in scoring defense (63.0 ppg.). In addition, Yale is third in the Ivy League in assists at 14.7 per game and had four games with 20 or more assists, including in Saturday's semifinal victory over Cornell.
 
Offensively, Yale leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage (.481) and is second in scoring offense (76.2 ppg.).
 
It's been a busy stretch for the Bulldogs, who knocked off Cornell in the semifinals of the Ivy Tournament on Saturday, fell to Princeton in the championship game on Sunday, traveled back to New Haven later Sunday and then flew from New York to Nashville on Monday.
 
Vanderbilt will be the second SEC opponent for Yale, which had a lead at Kentucky early in the second half before falling to the Wildcats 69-59 on Dec. 10.

HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale and Vanderbilt are playing for the first time in the postseason. There have been six previous meetings, and the Commodores hold a 5-1 edge in the series. The last game came in 2015, a 79-74 overtime victory for Vandy in Nashville. Yale went on to win a share of the Ivy League regular season title that year but lost to Harvard in an Ivy playoff game that determined the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All six previous games have been played in Nashville. Yale's victory came in the first meeting, 31-23 in 1907.
 
SCOUTING VANDERBILT
 
The Commodores (20-14, 11-7 SEC) are a No. 2 seed in the NIT. They advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before falling to Texas A&M, which snapped their five-game winning streak. Vandy has won 10 of its last 12, including key wins over Kentucky (2x), Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida (2x). The Commodores feature Liam Robbins, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Robbins also leads the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg. Tyrin Lawrence (12.5 ppg.) and Jordan Wright (10.8 ppg.) aaverage double figures in scoring as well. Jerry Stackhouse, who is in his fourth season as the head coach at Vandy, was named the SEC Co-Coach of the Year. The Commodores are appearing in the NIT for the second straight season. They went 2-1 last year in the tournament, beating Belmont and Dayton before falling to eventual champion Xavier in the quarterfinals.