Courtesy of David Schamis

Yale men’s basketball is undefeated in January. 

The Bulldogs (13–6, 4–0 Ivy) disposed of Harvard (10–7, 1–4 Ivy) in a 78–65 road victory, extending their win streak to six.

“It took us a while to get adjusted to the way they were playing defense, but once we did and got into our offense, we were pretty good,” head coach James Jones told Yale News. “John [Poulakidas ’25] and August [Mahoney ’24] were tremendous, and they got a lot of help from our bench.”

Sharpshooting guard duo Mahoney and Poulakidas led the team in scoring with 22 points apiece on a combined 10-17 from three-point range. 

Yale fell behind early, trailing 29–19 with the first half winding down. But back-to-back-to-back threes from Mahoney and Poulakidas brought it within one, and a pair of Nick Townsend ’26 free throws gave the Bulldogs the lead heading into the second. 

After Mahoney and Poulakidas each hit two threes in the first three minutes of the second half, Yale jumped out to a 45–36 lead.

Stout defense kept the Crimson at bay for the remainder of the game, and Yale finished with a comfortable 13-point victory.

Notably, Yale’s 78 points came despite quiet games from leading scorer Danny Wolf ’26 and guard Bez Mbeng ’25. Matt Knowling ’24, who led the team in scoring last season but had a slower start to this year’s campaign, had 15 points — his fourth straight game with double-digit scoring.

“I think yesterday showed our team’s depth and versatility,” Mahoney said. “The fact that Danny and Bez did not score the ball like they usually do but other guys stepped up is a sign of a well-balanced, strong team.”

The win is Yale’s second straight on the road and eighth in the last nine games. Of those eight wins, six have come on the road. 

Now, the Bulldogs have three home games ahead of them, including rival Princeton (15–2, 3–1 Ivy) this Friday. 

“I feel like our team’s chemistry has improved a ton since the start of the season,” Mahoney said. “We still have even more room to grow but I’m super glad in how we have begun to rally behind one another and show a lot of improvement. We just have to keep building day after day.”

Friday’s game will tip off at 7 p.m. in the John J. Lee Amphitheater.