Yale’s run comes to abrupt end
SPOKANE, Wash. — Just 53 hours after Yale pulled off the most remarkable win in program history, its tournament run came to an abrupt end with an 85-57 loss to 5th-seeded San Diego State on Sunday night in Spokane.
For Bulldog fans it was a first half that brought back memories of their second round appearance in 2016 where they fell into a 23-point first half hole against Duke. The Bulldogs watched as SDSU opened up a 45-21 halftime lead, and they were never able to muster a rally as the Aztecs maintained at least a 20-point lead for the remainder of the night.
“We knew they were a good team,” said SDSU coach Brian Dutcher. “They had our full attention. We came in focused and ready to play and that’s a credit to my guys.”
Yale (23-10) shot just 9-28 from the floor (3-11 from deep) in that first half and trailed by double digits just four minutes into the game.
“I thought we splintered a little bit in terms of our continuity. Our guys battled but it just wasn’t our day. Basketball teaches life lessons, and the lesson today was that it’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows, things get hard,” said Yale coach James Jones after his sixth game in four NCAA Tournament appearances. “There’s only going to be one team standing at the end of this, and I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”
Yale junior guard John Poulakidas was held without a field goal for the first 24 minutes, missing his first six field goals after his heroic 28-point performance against fourth-seeded Auburn on Friday, which included connecting on 10 of 15 shot attempts. Poulakidas was sharper in the second half and finished with 9 points. Bez Mbeng scored 12 points to lead Yale.