Bulldogs guard Makai Mason held his national coming-out party, scoring 31 points in the victory.
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Since Cornell made a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 in 2010, Ivy League teams have gone 4-3 in first-round games. “As long as we’re playing our game plan, playing with confidence and going in there trying to be successful, then we’ll be fine”. Senior forward Justin Sears and Brandon Sherrod hit for their combined average of 14 boards in the first match up with the 6’6, 240 pound Sherrod doing the most damage inside with three offensive boards. The win was the sixth in a row and the 18th in the last 19 games for the Bulldogs (23-6). How good? Four months ago in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Yale led 9-0 and made Duke earn a hard-fought victory. The loss of the two captains has forced both teams rally and adjust their respective approaches. “We were very impressed with him, and we’re not surprised about what he’s accomplished”. Ingram should have the advantage driving and on the perimeter, but Sears has proven to be a more energetic and determined rebounder.
“It’s incredible”, Caleb Holmes, a Yale alum and swingman who played for the Bulldogs from 2004 to 2008, told Business Insider.
“Yale is an fantastic place”, Sears said. “And their two guards [Mason and Montague], you have to pay attention to them at all times”.
Yale benefitted from the large contingent of Yale fans that made the trip to Providence. Butler shot 52 percent after halftime, using some NCAA Tournament experience to rally from an early eight-point deficit and finally push ahead midway through the second half.
The 11th-seeded Shockers played ahead from the start and caused Miller to sweat through his white dress shirt barely midway through the first half. They never got closer than 19 in the second half. In the end, the Bulldogs drew some of the conversation back onto the court with one of Thursday’s biggest upsets.
The senior class for Idaho (24-9) is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Greenfield, Mass., native came to Durham for a camp, and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski attended one of Mason’s AAU tournaments.
And the zone Duke flashed in that game has become an effective weapon for the Blue Devils. Grayson Allen was a 22-point per game scorer during the regular season as well, he tossed in 23 points while adding 10 rebounds against Wilmington.
– Marshall Plumlee has dunked 57 times on the season, the sixth-best single-season total in program history. Duke needs to play a cleaner game than they did in the opening round.
“We go hard, I blow the whistle, make ’em run to the free throw line, and we do that throughout practice”, Ollie said Thursday, adding, “So in the midst of that practice or running and sprints, you have to really calm yourself down, you’ve got to take the tension out”.
When you talk Yale starting five, you could be referencing the five United States presidents who have degrees from the university – William Howard Taft, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush were undergrads; Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton graduated from Yale Law.
Yale doesn’t suffer from a paucity of overachiever types, but don’t paint this team as overachieving. Another similarity to November is that Yale is playing with house money. Idaho drained three more 3-pointers, including back-to-back by Salvatore, but Baylor outscored the Vandals 20-13 in the period to seal the convincing win. Can they follow it up with another historic triumph of Duke?
Yale ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin, though the Bears are not far behind.
Here are some things to watch for in Saturday’s game.
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Craig Ponder led UNCW (25-8) with 22 points.
