CORNELL at YALE
Sat., Feb. 25 – 7 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Tickets
Yale Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's basketball team wraps up the home portion of the 2022-23 regular season when Cornell visits Lee Amphitheater on Saturday. Tipoff for Senior Night is slated for 7 p.m.
 
Yale's four seniors will be honored prior to the start. Matthue Cotton, EJ Jarvis, Isaiah Kelly and Michael Feinberg have enjoyed tremendous success during their careers, helping the Bulldogs win 82 games, including 40 in Ivy play, earn three NCAA Tournament appearances and capture two Ivy League regular season and tournament championships.
 
The four could add another Ivy regular season title to their resumes before Saturday is over. The Bulldogs have already secured a spot in the Ivy League Tournament but could clinch at least a share of the regular season title with a victory over the Big Red and losses by Princeton and Penn. Princeton plays at Harvard, while the Quakers host Dartmouth. Both of those games are 2 p.m. starts on Saturday.
 
It also could be a milestone night for James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. Jones has guided Yale to 199 Ivy League regular season victories and is looking to become just the second Ivy coach to win 200 league games, joining Princeton's Pete Carril, who led the Tigers to 310 league victories.
 
Jones, who is in his 24th year, has led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships – 2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 – two Ivy League Tournament titles – 2019, 2022 - four NCAA Tournament berths – 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 - and seven postseason appearances.
 
One of Jones' most miraculous Ivy victories came last Saturday at Princeton. Trailing by 19 points with eight minutes remaining, the Bulldogs rallied to force overtime and then outscored the Tigers 23-13 in the extra period to earn a thrilling 93-83 victory. Over the final eight minutes of regulation and five minutes of overtime Yale outscored Princeton 49-20. It tied for the fourth largest second-half deficit overcome this season in Division I.
 
John Poulakidas scored a career-high 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field. Bez Mbeng added 21 points, including a driving layup in the final seconds that forced overtime.
 
The Bulldogs continue to lead the league in field goal percentage (.478), field goal percentage defense (.396) and scoring defense (62.4 ppg.). Nationally, Yale is 15th in scoring defense and rebound margin (+6.8) and eighth in scoring margin (13.9).
 
Individually, August Mahoney is the league's top free throw shooter (.950, 57-of-60) and most accurate three-point shooter (.448, 43-of-96). In addition, Matt Knowling leads the league and is 10th nationally in field goal percentage (.630). Knowling also is fifth in the league in scoring at 14.5 ppg.
 
Four Bulldogs average double figures in scoring as Poulakidas (11.8 ppg.), Jarvis (11.0 ppg.) and Mahoney (10.2 ppg.) join Knowling. Mbeng is averaging 9.6 points.
 
Yale is 9-1 in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater this season.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale has won eight straight games over Cornell at Lee Amphitheater, including a 96-69 victory last year when Isaiah Kelly led five Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high 18 points. Matt Knowling added 17. Yale shot 54.2 percent from the field, outrebounded the Big Red 41-25 and had a season-high 20 assists on 32 field goals. Cornell, though, won the first meeting this season, 94-82 in Ithaca on Jan. 13. The Bulldogs had a 49-43 lead at halftime but the Big Red used a 17-0 second half run to seize control. Bez Mbeng scored 21 points to pace Yale. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 119-112. The first meeting came in 1899.
 
SCOUTING CORNELL
 
The Big Red (16-9, 6-6 Ivy) is battling for the fourth and final spot in the Ivy League Tournament. Cornell is currently tied with Brown, one game ahead of both Harvard and Dartmouth, who both sit at 5-7 in league play. The Big Red closes out the regular season by hosting Columbia on Mar. 4. Cornell split a pair of home games last weekend, edging Dartmouth 95-83 in overtime before falling to Harvard 73-56. The Big Red is the league's top scoring team at 83.3 ppg. but also allows the most points (76.0 ppg.). Cornell also leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.359) and assists (17.9 per game). Despite leading the league in points per game, the Big Red has only one player in the top 10 in scoring – Greg Dolan, who is ninth at 13.5 ppg. Dolan is also second in the league in assists (3.7 per game).