Ben Raab, Contributing Photographer
Follow along for live updates from Spokane as Yale plays San Diego State in the second round of this year’s March Madness.
Second half, 0:00 remaining | Yale 57, SDSU 85
San Diego State wins and will advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Yale is out.
– Evan Gorelick ’25, Print Managing Editor
Second half, 3:31 remaining | Yale 52, SDSU 79
SDSU’s LeDee is now on the bench as the match-up comes to a close. Yale’s Mahoney — a senior and the team captain — has been subbed out of the game, marking the end of his playing career as a Bulldog.
– Evan Gorelick ’25, Print Managing Editor
Second half, 5:14 remaining | Yale 48, SDSU 79
Fans are beginning to leave Spokane Arena as time left for Yale to turn the tide runs low.
– Evan Gorelick ’25, Print Managing Editor
Second half, 15:58 remaining, | Yale 32, SDSU 55
Bulldogs continue to have no answer for SDSU’s LeDee, who now has 26 points and nine rebounds.
Jones has turned to swing-forward Casey Simmon ’25 to try to help the Elis on the boards, as they are currently getting out-rebounded 29–18.
Yale has not thrown the towel in yet, though, with assistant coach Matt Elkin trying to hype the crowd up from the team bench.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
Second half, 15:58 remaining | Yale 32, SDSU 55
Yale’s fan section is trying to pick the Bulldogs up, chanting “D-fence” on every possession. But the Aztecs continue to sink shots on offense, most recently an and-one from San Diego State’s Micah Parrish.
John Poulakidas knocked down his first three of the game with a tough stepback. The Elis need him to get going.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
HALFTIME | Yale 21, SDSU 45
Friday night’s March Madness showdown between the Bulldogs and Aztecs has not started the way Yale — or any of the fans in Spokane Arena — anticipated.
The No. 13 Elis have looked like a shell of the team that went toe-to-toe against No. 4 Auburn on Friday, shooting 32 percent from the field and being outrebounded 23–12.
Poulakidas is 0-5 with 0 points after scoring 28 in Friday’s game. Defensively, none of the Yale starting five has won their matchup, as the Aztecs shot 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from three.
Yale has been in this position before. In 2016 — their only other round of 32 appearance — No. 12 Yale trailed 48–25 at halftime to No. 4 Duke before mounting a 39–23 second-half comeback attempt that came within three points of the Blue Devils lead at one point before falling 71–64.
Yesterday, Jones reflected on that loss, saying he thought his team got “too high” after their first-round upset against Baylor.
“If we had a better understanding of what we needed to do and were calmer, we would’ve had a better chance at winning that game,” he said.
The Bulldogs have 20 minutes to keep their season alive — but will have a big, 24-point hole from which to escape first.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 2:39 remaining | Yale 19, SDSU 39
The Aztecs’ offense slows down momentarily, but Yale can’t speed up on offense as shots continue to clank off the rim.
Mbeng knocked down a corner three just before the timeout, so perhaps that will get the Bulldogs going.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 6:44 remaining | Yale 16, SDSU 34
The Aztec lead continues to grow as the Elis get back-to-back buckets, but SDSU answers both times with a three.
San Diego State is shooting 18-30 from the field, while Yale is 9-28.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 8:13 remaining | Yale 12, SDSU 28
The shots still aren’t falling for Yale as Jones calls timeout and the SDSU fan section grows more lively.
The Elis have had no answer defensively for LeDee, who now has 15 points and 6 rebounds.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 11:26 remaining | Yale 12, SDSU 19
Wolf gets on the board with a big three to make it 17–12 Aztecs, but SDSU’s Elijah Saunders gets an easy putback dunk on a later possession.
Wolf – who scored just two points on 1-2 shooting on Friday – will be key for the Bulldogs success if the Aztecs continue to deny Mahoney and Poulakidas the ball on the perimeter.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 14:48 remaining | Yale 3, SDSU 13
Bulldogs get out to a cold 1-7 shooting start, and 1-5 combined from beyond the arc for Poulakidas and Mahoney.
The Aztecs are switching defenders every time Yale sets a screen for Poulakidas, who shot 6-9 from deep in Friday’s win over Auburn.
San Diego State’s Jaedon LeDee is off to a hot start early, with 8 points on 3-3 from the field. Coach Jones called timeout.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
First half, 20:00 remaining | Yale 0, SDSU 0
Bez Mbeng ’25, August Mahoney ’24, John Poulakidas ’25, Matt Knowling ’24 and Danny Wolf ’26 are Yale’s starting five.
Head Coach James Jones is going with the same starting lineup as usual.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter
SPOKANE — No. 13 Yale has a chance to make history tonight against No. 5 San Diego State tonight.
The Bulldogs (23–9, 13–3 Ivy) are playing in March Madness’s round of 32 for only the second time in school history after taking down Auburn as 13-point underdogs. If they can get past the Aztecs (25–10, 13–8 MWC), who are coming off a 69–65 first-round victory over No. 12 University of Alabama at Birmingham, they’ll earn a spot in the tournament’s “sweet sixteen” for the first time in school history.
In 2016, No. 12 Yale took down No. 5 Baylor in the tournament’s opening round before falling to No. 4 Duke.
“I thought we got a little too high after the first win,” Yale head coach James Jones said Saturday, reflecting on 2016. “If we had a better understanding of what we needed to do and were calmer, we would’ve had a better chance at winning that game.”
The game is set to tip-off from Spokane Arena at 9:40 p.m. EDT and will be televised nationally on TBS. Follow this live blog for in-game updates and analysis.
– Ben Raab ’26, Staff Reporter