Penn, Princeton Visit On Final Home Weekend :: Friday's Game Televised On YES; Saturday Is Senior Night

Feb. 28, 2008

vs. PENN
Fri., Feb. 29, 2008 - 7 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,532)
New Haven, Conn.
Audio: wybc.com
TV: YES Network

vs. PRINCETON
Sat., Mar. 1, 2008 - 8 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,532)
New Haven, Conn.
Audio: WYBC 1340 AM, wybc.com
Video: Yale All*Access

YALE TALE
After playing four straight road games, the Bulldogs (10-14, 4-6 Ivy) return to the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater for the final time this season. Yale hosts Penn on Friday at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the YES Network, and then plays Princeton on Saturday at 8 p.m. on Senior Night. Eric Flato, Caleb Holmes, Nick Holmes and Matt Kyle will all be recognized prior to Saturday's game. The four have helped lead the Bulldogs to 50 victories and have combined to play 395 games and score 2,757 points in their careers. Ross Morin had two strong games last weekend on the Cornell-Columbia trip. He shot 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the field and averaged 12.0 points. Morin is shooting 66.1 percent from the field in Ivy games, which is tops in the league. He also leads the team in scoring (12.8 ppg.) in league games. Flato tops the team in scoring (12.1 ppg.) overall. He is in the top 10 in the league in three-point field goals made (3rd, 2.39 per game), steals (t-5th, 1.52) and assists (8th, 2.74). Kyle leads the Ivy League in blocked shots (1.45 per game) and Alex Zampier is tied for second in steals (1.83).

HISTORY LESSONS
The Bulldogs have won three of the last four games with Penn in New Haven, including a 77-68 victory last year that was the Quakers' only loss in Ivy play. Penn won the first meeting 78-65 at The Palestra on Feb. 16. The Quakers lead the all-time series 140-67.

Yale is trying to win the season series against Princeton for the second straight year. The Bulldogs have never swept the Tigers in back-to-back years since the official start of Ivy play in 1956-57 and have only accomplished it three times overall (1962, 1986 and 2007). Yale beat Princeton 67-56 in Jadwin Gym on Feb. 15, but the Tigers lead the all-time series 138-79.

SCOUTING PENN
The Quakers (10-16, 5-4 Ivy) split last weekend's trip to Dartmouth and Harvard, beating the Big Green 88-62 before falling to the Crimson 89-79. Penn has averaged 81.7 points in its last three games. Brian Grandieri leads the team in scoring (13.0 ppg.) and rebounding (5.7 rpg.). He is the only player to start all 26 games for the Quakers. A Penn player has captured the Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor eight times this season. Tyler Bernardini, who is second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg.), has won it four times, while Jack Eggleson and Harrison Gaines have each won it twice.

SCOUTING PRINCETON
The Tigers (5-19, 2-7 Ivy) had lost seven straight games prior to playing at Brown on Friday. Zach Finley leads the team in scoring (10.4 ppg.) and shares the team lead in rebounding (4.7 rpg.). Princeton is one of only three Division I teams (Vanderbilt and UNLV are the others) to have made at least one three-point shot in every one of its games since the rule took effect for the 1986-87 season. The Tigers have now made at least one three-pointer in 601 straight games. Sydney Johnson, who played at Princeton and was the 1997 Ivy League Player of the Year, is in his first season as the head coach of the Tigers.

COLUMBIA 68, YALE 62
John Baumann had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead Columbia to a victory over Yale at Levien Gym. Baumann was 6 of 8 from the field and made 12 of 19 free throws. Ross Morin scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds to pace the Bulldogs. Yale led 43-42 with 10:31 left, but the Lions scored the next seven points. Columbia built the lead to 11, 57-46, before the Bulldogs rallied. Nick Holmes's three-pointer cut the deficit to three, 60-57, with 1:53 remaining. Baumann, though, answered with a jumper, and after Caleb Holmes missed a three-pointer, Mack Montgomery hit two free throws with 58 seconds left to give Columbia a 64-57 lead. Asenso Ampim was the only other Columbia player to reach double figures, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds. K.J. Matsui scored nine points. Caleb Holmes had 11 points and four assists for the Bulldogs. Alex Zampier added nine points, and Travis Pinick, Matt Kyle and Eric Flato all scored seven.

CORNELL 85, YALE 65
Adam Gore scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the second half as first-place Cornell topped Yale at Newman Arena. Jason Hartford added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Big Red. Eric Flato paced the Bulldogs with 13 points. Ross Morin and Matt Kyle both scored 11, and Caleb Holmes had eight. Trailing 39-36 at halftime, Cornell opened the second half with a 22-6 run. The Big Red (17-5, 9-0 Ivy) shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half and held Yale to 28.6 percent. Yale shot 55.2 percent from the field and made six three-pointers in the first half. The Bulldogs led 11-4 after three minutes and was ahead by as many as eight on a few occasions.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the 2007-08 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll. Yale received three first-place votes and had 104 points. Cornell is the choice from the 16 media members from the eight Ivy areas who voted. This is the first time since 1988-89 that neither Penn nor Princeton was selected to finish first.

2007-08 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll

1. Cornell, 119 points (10 first-place votes)
2. Yale, 104 (3)
3. Penn, 97 (1)
4. Columbia, 80 (1)
5. Brown, 70 (1)
6. Harvard, 43
7. Princeton, 40
8. Dartmouth, 23

JONES SERVES AS ASSISTANT COACH FOR TEAM USA
James Jones, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Yale, served as an assistant coach for the 2007 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games team. Villanova's Jay Wright was the head coach and Jones was joined as an assistant coach by Alabama's Mark Gottfried. The team, which featured Georgetown's Roy Hibbert, Michigan State's Drew Neitzel and Indiana's D.J. White, finished fifth in the Games, held in Rio. The 2007 Pan American Games assignment was Jones' second coaching experience with USA Basketball. He previously served as a court coach for the 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team Trials.

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
Seven teams that reached the postseason last year, including Final Four participant UCLA, highlight the 2007-08 Yale schedule. The Bulldogs played the Bruins on Nov. 23 for only the second time and made their first appearance in Pauley Pavilion. Yale visited another of college basketball's historic venues, Allen Fieldhouse, for the game against Kansas. The Jayhawks lost to UCLA in the Elite Eight last year. Other 2006-07 NCAA participants on the schedule included Stanford (Nov. 20), Holy Cross (Nov. 28) and defending Ivy League champion Penn (Feb. 16, Feb. 29). In addition, the Bulldogs played at UMass (Nov. 14) and hosted Vermont (Dec. 8), both of whom played in the NIT last year.

FREE VIDEO STREAMS ON YALEBULLDOGS.COM
Free live video is available for 12 of Yale's 13 home games. Fans can access the games at yalebulldogs.com by clicking on the Yale All*Access logo in the top right corner. An e-mail address and password are required to subscribe to the service. WYBC (1340 AM) will provide audio. Friday's game against Penn will not be available because it is being televised by the YES Network.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Seniors Caleb and Nick Holmes are the first set of twins in the history of Yale basketball... James Jones' younger brother Joe is the head coach at Columbia. The Jones brothers are one of only two active brother duos coaching at the Division I level. Seth and Brad Greenberg are the head coaches at Virginia Tech and Radford.

Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity