No. 14 Yale eliminated by No. 3 Purdue with 78–56 loss

No. 14 Yale (19–12, 11–3 Ivy) fell to No. 3 Purdue (28–7, 14–6 Big Ten) in its first-round March Madness matchup on Friday, 78–56.

The Bulldogs owned an early 16–15 lead seven minutes into the first half until Purdue’s size and post-play allowed it to build an advantage with free throws and points in the paint. Down 13 at halftime, Yale cut the deficit to single digits with two quick baskets after the break before a nine-minute scoring drought put the game out of reach.

Purdue guard Jaden Ivey, a projected top-five pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, led the Boilermakers with 22 points, while their 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey added 16 points, half of which came at the free-throw line. Yale guard Azar Swain ’22, who set a record in the modern era of program history by playing his 121st career game on Friday, started hot and scored 11 points in the first seven minutes. He ended the game with a team-high 18 points.

At halftime, No. 3 Purdue leads No. 14 Yale, 46–33

No. 14 Yale trails No. 3 Purdue, 46–33, at halftime of their first-round NCAA Tournament matchup.

Purdue guard Jaden Ivey and center Zach Edey were the driving forces behind the Boilermakers’ play in the first, as the two combined for 31 of the team’s 46 points. Ivey scored 18 points, most of them early in the half, as Purdue leaned on its interior size advantage to draw fouls and outscore the Elis in the paint, 20–8.

Purdue attempted 19 free throws in the first, making 14. Yale attempted 0. The Bulldogs were led by 13 points from guard Azar Swain ’22 and efficient bursts of offense from forward Matt Knowling ’24 and guard August Mahoney ’24 later in the half.

Azar Swain will set another major program record at March Madness: career appearances

Yale men’s basketball guard Azar Swain ’22 enters March Madness as the Bulldogs’ all-time leading three-point scorer in the record books and their go-to offensive option on the court.

On Friday, when the No. 14 Bulldogs take on No. 3 Purdue, he will top another major statistical category with the most recorded appearances in a Yale career: 121 games.

Yale played its first game of basketball in December 1895 — it won on the road at the Waterbury, Connecticut YMCA — and never had anyone play 120 career games for the Blue and White until two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Justin Sears ’16. Two games at Ivy Madness last weekend tied Swain and Sears at 120 appearances. When the guard starts his 31st contest of the season Friday afternoon at the Fiserv Forum, he will hold the new program best.

No. 14 Yale set for No. 3 Purdue in first round of March Madness

MILWAUKEE — It all happens quickly in March. The Yale men’s basketball team learned its NCAA Tournament seed and opponent just a few hours after beating Princeton in the Ivy Madness championship last Sunday, made it back to New Haven for two days and then took a chartered flight from Hartford to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs practiced in the Milwaukee Bucks training facility after landing, and on Thursday morning, they took to the real court — across the street at Fiserv Forum — where first-round March Madness action will tip off on Friday.

“In terms of the celebration, it was fast and furious,” Yale head coach James Jones told the media during a Thursday morning press conference at the arena. Bright stage lights shone as he sat on a makeshift stage in front of a backdrop dotted with the NCAA’s March Madness logo. “What’s great about the world now is everything’s on Instagram, so I got to relive some of the moments of my players,” Jones added. By Sunday night, he started watching film on Purdue.

A beginner’s guide to Yale

The Elis experienced an up-and-down start to the year during nonconference play. There were spurts of strong play — they notched a 20-point win over the University of Massachusetts during their first game against a Division I opponent, scoring over 54 percent from the field — interspersed with subpar performances. Slow starts in the first half, and particularly the few minutes following tipoff, emerged as an issue during some games. Yale came back to beat lesser-ranked Lehigh in early December but did not complete a similar comeback against Stony Brook earlier in the week, falling to the Seawolves at home in what the NCAA’s NET ranking metric considers Yale’s worst defeat of the season. After a mid-December loss to Monmouth, the thirteenth game of the season, Yale head coach James Jones and players expressed a similar sentiment: the Bulldogs, then 6–7, were not performing to their full potential.

What you need to know about Yale’s first-round opponent, Purdue

The Yale men’s basketball team is flying to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday for March Madness. Making their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2016, the No. 14 Bulldogs (19–11, 11–3 Ivy) will face No. 3 Purdue (27–7, 14–6 Big Ten) Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

Purdue is making its seventh-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the sixth longest active streak in the sport. Purdue head coach Matt Painter has been at the helm for the Boilermakers since 2005 and is making his 14th trip to the Big Dance.

Here is the rundown on Yale’s first-round opponent.

Yale receives No. 14 March Madness seed, will face No. 3 Purdue Friday in Milwaukee

After taking down Princeton in the Ivy Madness championship Sunday afternoon, Yale players did not have much time to sit around before the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed.

By the time they left Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion — after celebrating on the court, snipping down the net and greeting head coach James Jones in the locker room with a water shower — Yale only had a couple hours before learning their seed and first-round opponent.

But once CBS host Greg Gumbel began unveiling the bracket on the Selection Sunday show at 6 p.m., Yale waited and waited. The Bulldogs remained in Boston to tune into the bracket reveal before returning to New Haven, watching on a television hanging from the ceiling in a room at Del Frisco’s Steakhouse in Back Bay.

IN PHOTOS: Yale men’s basketball wins Ivy Madness, bid to NCAA Tournament

Off to the Big Dance: No. 2 Yale advances to March Madness after defeating No. 1 Princeton, 66–64

The Yale men’s basketball team is going dancing.

With a 66–64 win over first-seeded Princeton (23–6, 12–2) Sunday afternoon in the Ivy Madness final, second-seeded Yale (19–11, 11–3) claimed the Ivy League Tournament championship and punched its ticket to March Madness.

Yale has now won two consecutive Ivy Madness tournaments. The Bulldogs will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019, which is the last time an Ivy League team appeared in the bracket after the conference took a yearlong hiatus from competitive athletics during the pandemic in 2020–21.

Yale guard Azar Swain ’22 scored a game-high 23 points as the Bulldog defense held Princeton’s strong three-point shooters in check for most of the game. Swain, who took a leave of absence last year to preserve his final season of Ivy League eligibility, was named the Most Outstanding Player of Ivy Madness.