It was a tough 10 game stretch. No one would deny this. Not even veteran coach James Jones.Tough for a Butler or a Creighton. Many of the faithful said that they would be happy with 5-5. The true believers felt that 8-2 was within reach. Well they were close. Yale closed out 2018 with a exclamation point, destroying an Iona team which handled the Elis easily last season. Yale beat the Gaels, 99-84. It wasn’t that close. Yale led 48-31 at the half and never looked back.
Yale finished the year at 7-3 and might have logged more miles than any team in the country. They beat Power 5 Cal in China and Power 5 Miami on the road and came oh so close to defeating Memphis, also on the road.
Yale is playing with as much confidence and swagger as the 2016 team, which defeated Baylor in the NCAA Tournament, before losing narrowly to Duke.And this Yale team is deeper.
Coach Jones has played 10 players for extended minutes in games and for the first time in a few years, has not seen his team suffer a major injury.
The Iona game, on some levels was microcosmic of many of the Yale wins and of the Jones coaching philosophy.
Yale dominated the boards, 53-30 and held Iona to 7 offensive rebounds.
They had 6 players with 8 or more points, led by sophomore Paul Atkinson with 23. He was a perfect 10-10 from the field, including a nifty jumper. Jordan Bruner and Miye Oni both had 10 rebounds.
Yale has a staggering 30 assists to only 13 turnovers.
The Elis will be back in action at home against Kennesaw State, before embarking on another 300 mile trip, to California to play Cal State Northridge, a game scheduled for senior Alex Copeland from California. Jones wanted to play USC, but the would not schedule the strong Elis.