No. 13 Yale falls to No. 5 San Diego State in March Madness, ending historically strong season
The Bulldogs couldn’t pull off a second upset against No. 5 San Diego State on Sunday night, but they still are heading home as one of the most accomplished teams in program history.
Ben Raab, Contributing Photographer
SPOKANE — As Spokane Arena emptied, Yale head coach James Jones went over to thank the Yale fan section and cheerleaders.
No. 13 Yale couldn’t pull off a second upset against No. 5 San Diego State Sunday night, falling 85–57 after the Aztecs got out to a hot first half start and made 13-27 threes throughout the game. The loss comes on the heels of a thrilling 78–76 victory over No. 4 Auburn on Friday night.
“San Diego State played a tremendous game,” head coach James Jones said following the loss. “They usually don’t make too many threes but saw me coming and figured they’d make them all today.”
Point guard Bez Mbeng ’25 led the Bulldogs in scoring with 12 points, while the Aztecs Jaedon LeDee finished with 26 points on 9–12 from the field.
San Diego State will go on to play No. 1 UConn in Boston next week.
The defeat marks the end of the road for seniors August Mahoney ’24, Matt Knowling ’24 and Yussif Basa-Ama ’24. The three players played through one of the greatest four year stretches in Yale basketball history, which included two NCAA Tournament appearances. With 86 career wins, Mahoney is the program’s all time winningest player.
“Knowing how much work I’ve put in throughout my life and how much we’ve accomplished as a program, it stings knowing I’m never going to wear this jersey again,” Mahoney said. “But this has been the best few weeks of my life. As much as it hurts now I know I’m gonna look back in a week, a month, a year and have this journey for the rest of my life. I’m forever indebted to coach Jones and know this program is in great hands.”
This season was the second time ever that Yale made it to the NCAA tournament’s round of 32, the first being in 2016 when the No. 12 Bulldogs upset No. 5 Baylor in round one before falling to No. 4 Duke.
The Bulldogs have a lot to look forward to next season. Three of their five starters will be returning, and young players such as Danny Wolf ’26, Nick Townsend ’26 and Samson Aletan ’27 are poised for bright futures.