SPOKANE, Wash. – Another memorable season for the Yale men's basketball team came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State, last year's national runner up, had a hot shooting night from the field and played its typical tenacious defense in knocking off Yale 85-57 before a crowd of 11,514 at the Spokane Arena.
Nevertheless, 2023-24 will go down as one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Bulldogs won an NCAA Tournament game for just the second time,
defeating Auburn 78-76 on Friday, captured the Ivy League Tournament title for the third time and won 23 games, matching the most in the modern era of Yale Basketball.
"I can't be prouder of this team," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "I'm just sad that it had to end."
All-American Jaedon LeDee scored 26 points to lead San Diego State (26-10). That was to be expected. What came as a surprise was the Aztecs success from three-point range. They entered the night shooting just 31 percent for the season from beyond the arc but were 13-of-27 (48.1 percent) on Sunday.
"I tip my hat to San Diego State. They played a tremendous game," Jones said.
Bez Mbeng had 12 points, five rebounds and two assists to lead Yale.
Matt Knowling added 11 points, and
Danny Wolf and
John Poulakidas both scored nine points. Wolf also grabbed 10 rebounds and had five assists.
While it seemed the Aztecs couldn't miss, the Bulldogs had an off night from the field, shooting just 20-of-54 from the field.
The game was the final one for seniors
August Mahoney, Yussif Basa-Ama and Knowling.
"It hurts right now. Each and every person in our locker room thought we were going to go out and get the job done, but it's been an unbelievable last week or so," said Mahoney, the team captain who helped the Bulldogs win a remarkable 86 games and four championships in his four seasons. "As much as it hurts now, I know when I look back, I'm going to be really proud to be a member of this basketball team."
