Brown vs. Yale: What a huge surprise in the Ivy League semifinals. The No. 4-seeded Brown Bears sent the No. 1-seeded Princeton Tigers packing in short order. In the other semifinal, the Yale Bulldogs controlled the game from the tipoff against Cornell and will now look to finish last season’s unfinished business.
Brown vs. Yale:
Brown won seven straight games, including a victory in the regular-season finale against Yale. On paper, nothing about the Bears, who won just 13 games all year, heading into the title basketball game.
Mike Martin’s team has scored at least one point per possession in five straight games, matching the Bears’ winning streak. Brown has already beaten 3 of the best teams in the conference, so beating Yale wouldn’t be a huge surprise.
Brown’s iniquity count on two players: Kino Lilly Jr. and Nana Owusu-Anane. Lilly is arguably the best scoring guard in the conference, and proved that with 27 points and 10 assists against Princeton.
Brown vs. Yale-Brown needs to shoot it well from deep, with the Bears attempting 3s on 40% field goal attempts. It could be a long night for the Bears if those shots don’t fall, but the outlook is different if Brown shoots well.
Bears can also create an advantage on the glass. The Browns rank in the top 100 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, led by Owusu-Anane and Kalu Anya. Few Ivy League squads can rival Yale’s formidable size — but Brown is the exception.
Princeton deployed an interesting theory late in the game to try to slow down Brown’s offense. The Bears are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country, so Princeton started committing double-digit fouls with three minutes left. It wouldn’t surprise me if Yale chose to deploy a similar strategy.
The Bulldogs boast plenty of experience and length, leading to very good defensive numbers. Yale’s ideal game script is a low-scoring game. That’s exactly what Yale got in the semifinal against Cornell, winning 69-57. Keeping a top-100 offense at 0.86 PPP is no easy feat.
Brown vs. Yale:
Yale’s effectiveness at containing 2-point shots forces opponents to take 3s. Opponents shot 3s on 42% of field goals against Yale, and Baez Mbeng is the primary reason as an attacking defender. Mbeng holds off opposing guards like it’s his day job. But he has struggled to slow down the tough shot-making Lilly, allowing 26 points to the Browns’ star last week.Ale is back in the Ivy League title game for the third year in a row and this time around, after being sent home by Princeton last year, it aims to cut the net. Yale took things slow on offense and did a good job of taking care of the ball with just a 14.2% turnover rate.
On the offensive end, Yale will look to an interior scoring attack from inside linebackers Danny Wolf and Matt Knowling. The 7-foot Wolf provides floor-stretching ability at the five, but is facing more physical and athletic defenders. He will have to use his height advantage to score in this one.
Brown vs. Yale:
The real offensive keys shooting from the wings are August Mahoney and John Palakidas. Yale’s offense is fairly light on shooting 3s, attempting outside shots on just 35% of field goal attempts. It’s a byproduct of Mahoney and Poulakidas being just two dead-eye shooters, but both connected on 38% shots from 3.
Brown vs. Yale:
The total seems a little lighter here. I hope Yale to win and make the NCAA Tournament, but there aren’t strong feelings on either side of the spread. Over means, however, surpassed this total with relative ease considering the regular-season meetings between the two.
Brown vs. Yale: Neither team is very fast, but recent results believe both teams can crack the 70-point mark and thus hit the over in the Ivy League championship game.