Yale will aim for more history when the Bulldogs take on San Diego State to conclude the second round of this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday. A 14-point underdog before taking down SEC champion Auburn, the Ivy League’s lone representative has been handed better odds for their matchup with the Aztecs from the Mountain West.
Despite trailing by 10 points with less than eight minutes remaining, Yale — which battled back from six down with 27 seconds to play in the Ivy League final against Brown — made the plays late in the game to pull off a hard-fought, 78- 76 upset of the No. 4-seeded Tigers. John Poulakidas was dialed in, especially from 3-point range, as the junior guard led the way with a game-high 28 points. The Bulldogs shot the ball well, except from the free-throw line (21-for-31), where they ranked 252nd during the regular season, shooting just 70.2 percent.
Next up is San Diego State, which also needed a rally to hold off No. 12 UAB, 69-65. The Aztecs were in control for most of the game and enjoyed a 12-point lead early in the second half — only to watch the Blazers battle back and reclaim the lead with about seven and a half minutes remaining. It was nip-and-tuck the rest of the way, but SDSU made its free throws and did enough on the defensive end to escape with the win.
Just as he has all season, Jaedon LeDee came up big for the Aztecs. The senior forward’s 32 points accounted for nearly half of his team’s scoring output while taking nearly a third of the shots (18 of their 55). Yale will no doubt focus its defensive efforts on the 6-foot-9 LeDee — and Bulldogs coach James Jones has an atypical luxury of an Ivy team with 7-footer Danny Wolf on the roster. The team’s leading scorer (14.3 points per game) and rebounder (9.8 per game), Wolf’s presence should impact LeDee on both ends of the floor.
Entering the tournament, Yale made for a “decent Cinderella candidate,” according to that The Gaming Juice’s Brad Evans and another upset would book the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance. To get there, the Bulldogs will need to continue to shoot the ball well, including from the line, against a battle-tested San Diego State team that ranks near the top of KenPom’s leaderboard in defensive efficiency.
Our model’s prediction, after 1 million simulations
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How to watch No. 5. San Diego State vs. Well 13 Yale
What: East Region, Second Round
Tip off time: 9:40 p.m. ET, Sunday
TV: TBS, streaming on Max
Location: Spokane, Wash. (you can get tickets here)
San Diego State vs. Yale odds
Odds are from BetMGM and update live.
Expert picks
Players to watch
San Diego State
Yale
- Danny Wolf, sophomore forward, first-team All-Ivy
- Bez Mbeng, junior guard, Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, second-team All-Ivy
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(Photo credits: Steph Chambers, Creator: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)
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