Tag: Miye Oni

Yale 87, Columbia 78: Yes, Bulldogs Look Like Ivy Contenders

Yale has had plenty of opportunities to make excuses this season if it wanted. Loss of three starters (all post players) to graduation? Sure. Preseason Ivy League Player of the Year Makai Mason (who only scored 31 in an NCAA upset of Baylor last March) gone with a broken foot in the preseason? Yeah, that works. Teams and opposing crowds taking aim at the current kings of the Ivy League? Why not? Letdown after finally breaking through to the NCAA Tournament after 54 years? Could make a case.

Except Yale doesn’t just not want to hear it, they’re taking those potential alibis and shoving them down the throat of the Ivy League in 2016-17. With a hard-fought, but impressive 87-78 win at Columbia, the Bulldogs are not only 4-1 in conference play, but if it gets a win Saturday night in Ithaca over Cornell, would be 5-1 with six of their remaining eight regular season contests in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater, where all the Bulldogs have done is won 21 straight games.

If you’re surprised that Yale looks like it will be in the Ivy League hunt once again until the end, they’re not. And they’re curious why you would be.

Continue reading “Yale 87, Columbia 78: Yes, Bulldogs Look Like Ivy Contenders” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Close Finishes Shake Up Standings

Last Week in the Ivy League: Yale survived a scare from its travel partner, while Columbia wasn’t so lucky. Harvard kept rolling with a strong second half. The Bulldogs have strong opinions about Russell Westbrook. I joined Ivy Hoops Online’s podcast. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Close Finishes Shake Up Standings” →

Ivy League Weekly Recap: Princeton Reclaims Pole Position

Last Week in the Ivy League: Princeton held serve at home, taking a two-win lead on the league. Yale split, thanks to “the dog and Oni show.” Columbia won on the road in a back-and-forth opener. Penn’s #PathToThePalestra is 0 miles, but it just got a whole lot longer. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Recap: Princeton Reclaims Pole Position” →

Princeton 66, Yale 58: Tigers Win, Bulldogs Go Down Fighting

The uniforms said “Yale” on the front, but you’ll be forgiven if the players inside them were unrecognizable to the fans at Jadwin Gym Saturday night. The defending champ Bulldogs again came in as possible Ivy League contenders, but did so like a Broadway show whose original cast had moved on to bigger and better things.

Yale’s only Ivy loss last season came on Feb.19 in Princeton, but of the 200 minutes used by James Jones in that contest, only 9 were on the floor Saturday, with Sam Downey being the only Yale player to participate in both games.

Yes, the Bulldogs were going to have to rebuild after graduating Justin Sears, Brandon Sherrod, Nick Victor, and Khaliq Ghani (who accounted for 122 of those minutes, and doesn’t even take into account Jack Montague, who was not on the team by then), but preseason Ivy Player of Year Makai Mason (37) broke his foot, and current captain Anthony Dallier (34) became ill after Friday’s game at Penn and did not play.

Continue reading “Princeton 66, Yale 58: Tigers Win, Bulldogs Go Down Fighting” →

Yale 68, Penn 60: Shooting The Ball Still Important

Penn, as it has done for most of the season, battled hard Friday night against defending Ivy League champion Yale, winning a good majority of the loose balls and making the Bulldogs work for everything they got on the offensive end.

The Quakers also went more than 20 minutes without turning the ball over and had just nine for the contest.

But in the end, you only get points for putting the ball in the basket, and Penn just couldn’t do enough of it in a frustrating 68-60 loss at The Palestra.

Continue reading “Yale 68, Penn 60: Shooting The Ball Still Important” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Penn’s Big Win, Princeton’s Injury Woes

What Happened Last Week: Penn got its biggest win of the Steve Donahue era. Princeton is down another starter. Dartmouth’s ignominious streak ended. Nearly half the league rested, what with finals and all that annoying stuff. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Penn’s Big Win, Princeton’s Injury Woes” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Non-Conference Struggles

Last Week in the Ivy League: After losing several close games Saturday, the Ancient Eight are a combined 11-24 in D-I action. Though Nate Hickman had lots of heroics, Columbia got 88-83’d again. Harvard is reeling, Penn and Columbia took bad losses, and even Yale went winless. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Non-Conference Struggles” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: The Injury Monster Strikes Again

What Happened Last Week: Games started, but not before a season-changing injury. Yale upset another pack of Huskies despite missing two top players. Princeton fell short at BYU, and Harvard lost to Stanford on the other side of the world. Penn and Columbia looked like playoff contenders. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: The Injury Monster Strikes Again” →