Yale sends Princeton to second straight loss, remains undefeated in Ivy

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A nationally televised audience got to watch Yale outduel enemy Princeton Friday, 70-64, and stay undefeated in Ivy League play after five games. On a night where the offense lacked consistency, the Bulldogs found another gear on the defensive end and strung together enough stops late to send the loud chorus of Yale supporters home happy.

It looked Yale was going to need to be a force on both ends in order to win this game after the way Princeton came out firing, which included a 9-of-15 showing from deep by the time the first half clock expired to stake out a 35-30 lead for the Tigers at the break.  Blake Peters delivered the opening salvo with back-to-back threes to get Princeton on the board, while the Tigers rode their early three-point wave behind three triples from Xaivian Lee. Even while being stalked by his counterpart, Bez Mbeng, Lee was content to do his work from outside because all he needed was a split second to set his feet and dispatch to make the defense pay. 

“I just had to guard him the way I have been guarding everyone else my whole life,” Mbeng said.

With Princeton leading 16-14 at the 9:44 mark of the first half, Lee banked in a three from the wing while on one foot and made it look easy. Lee scored 11 points in the first half and was buttressed by strong play from Dalen Davis, who a mostly quiet Mitch Henderson said is looking more like a sophomore these days than a freshman. Standing at six feet, Davis used his deceptive physicality to fend off his matchups and delivered 11 points off the bench in the loss.

The difference is Yale had Danny Wolf, a unicorn type of player who can produce big plays both inside and outside on offense. Wolf scored 21 points, including 11 in the second half, while Princeton was clearly outmatched despite sending double teams his way. Wolf stands at seven feet tall while Princeton’s tallest player, Caden Pierce, is 6-foot-7.

“You can’t play him one-on-one in the post,” Yale head coach James Jones said. “Their tallest player is 6-foot-7. I expected the double-team to come, and it did.”

After Pierce and Matt Allocco poured in back-to-back threes to regain a 50-49 Princeton lead, Wolf responded with a three of his own, which put the Bulldogs in front for the remaining eight plus minutes of the regulation. For good measure, Wolf sealed the Bulldogs’ winning fate with a pair of free throws in the final seconds and then got serenaded with eponymous chants from the Yale student section after the final buzzer sounded.

“Come Ivy League season when you have a big game like this and the fans are rallying around us, it’s really important and it helps us do what we do best,” said Wolf, who continues to emerge as a legitimate NBA prospect in only his second season in New Haven.

James Jones gave the Bulldogs’ offensive performance a “B or B-minus” in large part due to a 13-of-25 showing from the free throw line. Yale attempted 22 more free throws than Princeton, who lived and died by the three while going 4-for-18 from long range in the second half. Yale made up for its free throw inefficacies by playing its best defense over the final 10 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs, who trailed by as much as six early in the second half, forced the Tigers into a few soul-crushing misses late despite the lurking presence of Lee and Pierce, who continued to make plays to keep things interesting. 

“Defensively today, we were really good, and Danny and Bez are obviously a big part of that,” Jones said. 

Yale missed a slew of easy shots in this game, including coming up empty on the fast break several times, which Jones spared of his criticism given the overall mission was accomplished. Mbeng was able to overcome some offensive struggles to still score 11 points. August Mahoney was an unsung hero of sorts, with 11 points on the strength of three clutch three-pointers. Matt Knowling and John Poulakidas chipped in 12 and seven points, respectively.

“We wanted to treat it like another game of course, but we definitely had a little bit of extra motivation coming into this one,” Mbeng said, hinting at the bitter feeling that has lingered with the Bulldogs since falling to Princeton, 74-65, in the Ivy League title game last March. 

Jones was not thinking about any rematch in the immediate aftermath of sending the Tigers to their second Ivy League loss in as many games. The quick turnaround against Penn was more than enough to deflect any extra rivalry talk involving the Tigers.

“I know I have to see them once,” Jones said when asked if he expects a third straight meeting with Princeton in the Ivy League Championship. “I’m thinking about Penn right now. Princeton is in the rearview mirror and I’m just looking ahead to the next game.”