Bulldogs happy to be home for Ivy Tourney
NEW HAVEN — For the Yale men’s basketball team, the road to the Big Dance travels on avery familiar floor.
The Ivy League men’s and women’s tournament descends upon the John J. Lee Amphitheater, as eight teams bid for two NCAA Tournament berths. And for the No. 2 seed Yale men, it could not be a better scenario — hosting the tournament, needing two wins to secure an NCAA berth.
“It’s really awesome for us,” senior guard Trey Phills said. “It’s honestly pretty cool that we’re this close (to the NCAA Tournament) again and we have the home court advantage. It’s awesome.”
Phills was a freshman when the Bulldogs went to the 2016 NCAA tournament and upset Baylor in the first round before losing, 71-64, to Duke. The team was the best of James Jones’ 20-year run at Yale, the coach said Friday.
But the traits of that season — defense, rebounding, unselfishness on offense — are evident this season. Yale is an experienced, well-coached roster with size and athleticism, a team that will pose matchup issues for any opponent.
“We feel pretty good,” Phills
said. “Everybody feels good though. We just know what type of team we can be. We have to focus on the things that have gotten us this far, then do it two more times.”
Yale will face No. 3 Princeton at 3 p.m. Saturday. Top seed Harvard will play No. 4 Penn at 12:30. The women’s semifinals start at 6 p.m., with No. 1 Princeton facing No. 4 Cornell followed by No. 2 Penn against No. 3Harvard at 8:30 p.m.
“We’re just really excited to have an opportunity to play in our own building this weekend,” Jones said.
Agood crowd is expected and the host team would love it
to feel like a true home game.
“Hopefully New Haven show us some love,” Phills said. “They always do.”
On Friday morning, Jones talked about the experience of preparing for the tournament in his own building.
“We were just in our locker room … it’s our court,” Jones said. “I have friends and family coming to visit my home. It’s just awhole different scenario for us. The comfort level that you have, being in your own spot, I think that makes a huge difference.”