Yale Athletics

After back-to-back losses in February, the Bulldogs are regaining momentum heading into Ivy Madness.

Yale (20–8, 11–2 Ivy) beat rival Harvard (14–12, 5–8 Ivy) 80–60 on Saturday night. A night earlier, they took care of business against Dartmouth (5–21, 1–12 Ivy). With the two victories, the Elis reached the 20-win mark for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

Star forward Danny Wolf ’26 had an all-around performance with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. The statline marked his ninth double-double of the Ivy season, tying the all-time Ivy League record. 

Guard Bez Mbeng ’25 also had a double-double. The junior finished with 10 points and 10 assists — a career-high.

The Bulldogs have now scored over 80 points in each of their last three games. The team’s kenpom.com ranking had shot up nine spots since a Feb. 23 loss to Cornell. Now at 82, the Elis are ranked higher than they’ve been all season. 

Against Dartmouth on Friday, Yale shot 55 percent from the field, 46 percent from three-point range and had 23 assists on their 33 field goals. Guard John Poulakidas ’25 led the way with 16 points, while Matt Knowling ’24 added 13 on 5-6 shooting and Wolf recorded another double-double.

Throughout the game, two sections of students held up flags reading “Cease Fire” and “Divest,” calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, an end to what they called Israel’s occupation of Palestine and that Yale divest from weapons manufacturing. 

Mbeng, the Ivy League’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, filled up the stat sheet once again against the Big Green with eight points, five assists and three steals. 

With one game remaining in conference play, the field for Ivy Madness is set with Yale, Princeton, Cornell and Brown as the four qualifying teams. Yale and Princeton are both 11–2 in season play, but the Tigers will likely earn the first seed through a tiebreaker because they have a higher NET rating. 

In the unlikely event that Princeton loses to Penn (11–17, 3–10 Ivy), the Bulldogs would gain the first seed with a win of their own and play Brown in the tournament’s opening round. Otherwise, they’ll face the Big Red, who they beat at home but fell to on the road. 

Still, the Elis have one more regular season game to play against Brown (11–17, 7–6 Ivy) on Saturday. The Bears got off to a slow start to the season but are better than their record indicates, having won their last five games in Ivy play, including an upset over Cornell in Ithaca. Yale beat them 80–70 in the Ivy League opener in January.

Saturday’s game will tip off at noon in Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

BEN RAAB
Ben Raab covers faculty and academics at Yale and writes about the Yale men's basketball team. Originally from New York City, Ben is a sophomore in Pierson college pursuing a double major in history and political science.