Follow along for live updates as Yale plays Brown in New York City during the current year’s Elite level championship — the victor of which earns an automatic bid to March Madness.
Final part, 15:11 remaining | Yale 35, Brown 29
The Bulldogs grabbed three hostile bounce back in the final part’s initial minutes. Yale will take any additional opportunity open doors they can get against a great Brown bouncing back team. Danny Wolf is already at 10 bounce back on the day.
John Poulakidas is also starting to put his fingerprints on this game. The sophomore thumped down a three and a baseline jumper to put Yale up six.
HALFTIME | Yale 26, Brown 22
At the half, the Elite level final is as yet anyone’s game.
Yale looks as strong as they’ve been all season on edge end, holding Brown’s Kino Lilly Jr. to seven focuses on 2-6 shooting while at the same time dismissing five shot attempts at the rim. The Elis have also constrained the Bears into multiple shot clock violations.
Obnoxiously, the Bulldogs are shooting 1-10 from three-point range. They’ll require more from sharpshooting couple August Mahoney and John Poulakidas, who are shooting a combined 42 percent from three on the season yet have combined for only one triple today.
In the bouncing back category, Yale is marginally leading Brown with 21 boards to the Bears’ 20. Both these teams are among the nation’s top bouncing back teams and have been tenacious on the glass up to this point.
Yale, who entered the game as eight point favorites, should remain centered against the Bears, who have come back from behind against them previously. Last Saturday on Yale’s home court, Brown came back from a ten point shortfall with five minutes remaining and won in overtime.
With an outing to March Madness on the line, Jones’ squad cannot afford to allow that to happen again.
First half, 2:18 remaining | Yale 24, Brown 20
It’s been a guarded battle hitherto, with the two teams combined for only 5-21 from three point range.
Yale’s Danny Wolf has only two focuses obnoxiously, however has already obstructed three shots and grabbed eight boards on edge end.
August Mahoney has been Yale’s best weapon obnoxiously so far, with 7 focuses on 2-5 shooting. The captain has had a great tournament, scoring 16 in Yale’s success over Cornell yesterday.
First half, 10:44 remaining | Yale 11, Brown 8
Yale went on a 7-2 run, yet Brown’s Kino Lilly Jr. has carried the Bears back into it with a profound three.
Lilly is Brown’s leading scorer, averaging a little more than 18 focuses per game. He’s being guarded by Yale’s Mbeng, the double cross Elite level Cautious Player of the Year. A matchup to watch until the end of the game.
First half, 15:57 remaining | Yale 4, Brown 3
The Bulldogs look great protectively, driving back-to-back shot clock violations and making it hard for the Bears to track down clean looks.
Unpalatably, Yale is playing through star forward Danny Wolf. The 7-foot forward scored his first focuses on a layup.
First half, 20:00 remaining | Yale 0, Brown 0
Bez Mbeng ’25, August Mahoney ’24, John Poulakidas ’25, Matt Knowling ’24 and Danny Wolf ’26 are Yale’s starting five.
Head Coach James Jones is going with the same starting setup as usual ahead of the Ivy final.
Game day, 8:00 a.m.
NEW YORK CITY — The Yale men’s basketball team faces off today against Brown in today’s Elite level tournament finals. The champ earns the gathering title and an automatic bid to March Madness.
The No. 2 cultivated Bulldogs (21-9, 12-3 Ivy) knocked off No. 3 Cornell (22-7, 11-4 Ivy) 69-57 in the tournament’s semifinal game on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, No. 4 Brown (13-17, 8-6) pulled off a 90-81 bombshell triumph of No. 1 Princeton (24-4, 12-3 Ivy) to book their spot in the final.
Driven by head coach James Jones, Yale is looking for its seventh-ever NCAA tournament bid and fourth starting around 2016. Jones’ squad is playing in the Ivy Tournament’s championship for a fourth straight season. The Bulldogs won in 2019 and 2022 yet lost to Princeton last season.
Yale split their regular season series against Brown, beating them 80-70 on Jan. 9 yet falling 84-81 in their final regular season game. The Bears – – playing in the tournament interestingly since the Elite level presented it in 2017 – – are as of now riding a seven-game series of wins.
The game is set to hint from Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium at 12 p.m. You can follow along here for in-game updates and analysis.