Yale vs. Quinnipiac
Monday, Nov. 4 – 8 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater
New Haven, Conn.
ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team opens the 2024-25 season at home against Division I neighbor, Quinnipiac.
 
2024-25 Notes

• Yale was picked to finish second in the Ivy League Media Preseason Poll.
• Over the last nine seasons, Yale has posted a 95-31 (.754) Ivy League record, won five Ivy regular season championships, three Ivy League Tournament titles and earned four NCAA Tournament berths.
• The Bulldogs have a challenging 27-game slate for the season. Four opponents – Purdue, Akron, Vermont and Howard – joined the Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament field a year ago. The Boilermakers advanced to the national championship game, falling to UConn 75-60 in Phoenix.

 
It's Personnel

• Yale returns six seniors: Bez Mbeng, John Poulakidas, Teo Rice, Emir Buyukhanli, Yassine Gharram, and Jack Molloy. Along with the squad's seniors are juniors Casey Simmons, Nick Townsend, and Devon Arlington.
• In April, Teo Rice was elected captain and will lead the squad this season.
• Trevor Mullin, Samson Aletan, and Jeannot Basima highlight the Bulldogs' sophomore class.
• The new kids joining the folder are Isaac Celiscar, Riley Fox, and Jordan Brathwaite.
   

Recapping Last Season

• The Bulldogs (22-9, 11-3 Ivy) earned the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Ivy Tournament in thrilling fashion. Matt Knowling's baseline floater off a feed from Bez Mbeng as time expired lifted second-seeded Yale to a 62-61 victory over No. 4 Brown at Columbia's Levien Gym. The Bulldogs had trailed by six with 27 seconds remaining.
• Yale (23-9) won a thriller over Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. John Poulakidas scored 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field to lead the Bulldogs. Six of Poulakidas' field goals came from three-point range, which ties the most by an Ivy Leaguer in the NCAA Tournament, and 16 of his points came in the second half. They eventually fell to San Diego State in the NCAA second round and capped the season at 23-10.
• The victory over Auburn was Yale's second ever in the NCAA Tournament. The first came over Baylor, 79-75, in 2016 when the Bulldogs were a No. 12 seed. Yale is making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth under the direction of Jones. The Bulldogs have an all-time tournament record of 2-7.
• The Bulldogs' 23 victories are tied with the 2019-20 team for the modern-day school record. Yale won 30 games in 1906-07. The Bulldogs have now won 20 or more games in four of the last five seasons and seven times in Jones' tenure as head coach. Prior to Jones' arrival, Yale had won 20 or more games in only four of the previous 107 seasons.
• Bez Mbeng is a two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honoree. His 64 steals are the second most in a season in school history and his 142 career steals are the fourth most in Yale history.

 
A Look at History

• The first meeting between the teams was in 1999-20, James Jones' first season as Yale's head coach, in the Phoenix Classic at the Hartford Civic Center, an 87-69 Bobcat victory.
• Quinnipiac leads the all-time series 4-2 since the Bobcats went Division I.
• Last time the pair met was on Dec. 11, 2023, which saw Yale take the victory, 73-66.
• Before then, the last meeting between the Bulldogs and Bobcats was a double-overtime thriller, an 88-85 Quinnipiac victory in the Connecticut 6 Classic at M&T Bank Arena in 2014.
   

 Scouting Quinnipiac

• This will be the season opener for both sides as the Bobcats will play their first game of the season.
• The 2023-24 season saw Quinnipiac win its first-ever MAAC regular season title.
• Quinnipiac broke a program record in single season wins with 24 during the 2023-24 season.
• The Bobcats' 19-4 start over their first 23 games marked the program's best start to a year since the 1965-66 campaign.

 
Up Next
Following Yale's season opener against Quinnipiac, they will hit the road for a Midwestern match up in Chicago, Ill. Against UIC.