Scouting Report: Yale Bulldogs

After nearly a full week off to readjust to the eastern timezone, the Kentucky Wildcats are back in action at Rupp Arena. The #16 ranked ‘Cats will play host to the Yale Bulldogs at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon (SEC Network). Yale enters with an 8-2 record after losing on Tuesday by 10 points at Butler. The Bulldogs’ other loss came on the road at Colorado by just three points. This is a good basketball team currently ranked #88 in KenPom and actually ahead of the Wildcats at #36 in the first NET rankings. However, this obviously still should be a win for Kentucky before traveling to Madison Square Garden to play UCLA next Saturday.

The Yale Bulldogs are no stranger to success under head coach James Jones in his 24th season. Coach Jones has 360 victories to his name which is the most in Yale history and second most in Ivy League history. The Bulldogs have made four NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016 including last season when they earned a #14 seed and lost to Purdue 78-56. They have their sights set on going dancing once again in 2023.

As always, we have a full scouting report to get you ready for Kentucky’s opponent. We will dive into their personnel, break down the offensive and defensive schemes, and provide some keys to the game. Let’s jump on in and get to know the Yale Bulldogs.

Yale Bulldogs Personnel

Starters

#2 Bez Mbeng: 6’4″ 195 lbs, Sophomore Point Guard

6.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.5 apg

Point Guard. Willing shooter. 33 of 58 shots have been 3s. Only 7-33, though — 21.2%. Closeout short and stay between him and the basket. Go under ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off downscreens and get over the flares. We will adjust if he makes a couple. Much more dangerous as a driver than as a shooter. No right-hand drives! Get your hands up and make him score over you as he drives it. Don’t over-help when he drives. Will be driving to pass a lot. Tighten up to #3 and #4 on the perimeter. Better passer than he is finisher. Just stay between him and the basket. No layups!

#3 August Mahoney: 6’4″ 190 lbs, Junior Guard

8.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.6 apg

Lefty. SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 36 of 49 shots have been 3s. Shooting 47.2% from beyond the arc. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. Absolutely no help off of him. Tighten up as the ball comes toward you. Be ready for the skip pass. Do not come further to the midline than you can recover while the pass travels to him. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if there is too much space. Switch OUT to take away the 3s. Find him in transition. Your only responsibility is taking him away from 3. Will drive it left when he puts it on the floor.

#4 John Poulakidas: 6’5″ 190 lbs, Sophomore Guard

10.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg

Lefty. SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 48 of 77 shots have been 3s. Shooting 47.9% from beyond the arc. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. Absolutely no help off of him. Tighten up as the ball comes toward you. Be ready for the skip pass. Do not come further to the midline than you can recover while the pass travels to him. Chase him off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if there is too much space. Switch OUT to take away the 3s. Find him in transition. Your only responsibility is taking him away from 3. Will drive it left when he puts it on the floor.

#22 Matt Knowling: 6’6″ 205 lbs, Junior Forward

16.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.1 apg

Lefty. Undersized 4-man. Looking to face-up and drive it left. NO LEFT-HAND DRIVES!!! You have to get over and cut off the left-hand drives. Always look to spin back left to finish. Not really looking to shoot it from the perimeter. Just 3-9 from 3 this season. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket and guard against the left-hand drive. Bring help when he drives it to try and make him give it up, especially when he is driving left. Do not help off of #3 or #4! Most aggressive offensive player. Have to be ready for him to bring it at you. Left hand, right shoulder in the post. Be physical and make him score over you. Don’t let him turn the corner. No left-hand drives!

#15 EJ Jarvis: 6’8″ 220 lbs, Senior Forward

10.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.9 apg

Lefty. Face-up undersized 5-man. Likes to shoot the little face-up jumper. Get all the way into his space and give it a hard contest. Not really looking to shoot from 3-point range though. Just 3-9 on the season. Closeout short when he is beyond the arc, but closeout more aggressively if he is spotted up in the 15-20 foot range. Will put it on the floor and drive it left. No left-hand drives! Left hand, right shoulder in the post. Always looking to come back left to finish. Stay between him and the basket and make him score over you. Don’t let him turn the corner. Good offensive rebounder. Box out! No face-up jumpers from 15-20 feet. No left-hand drives.

Bench

#35 Isaiah Kelly: 6’7″ 215 lbs, Senior Forward

6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.8 apg

Backup forward. Athletic. Looking to face up and use his speed and athleticism against a bigger defender. He is a non-shooter from beyond the arc. Just 2-5 on the season from 3. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket and cut off the right-hand drives. No right-hand drives!!! Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Take away the quick drop step and don’t let him turn the corner. Stay down on the shot fakes. Want to make him score over you. Will crash the offensive glass hard. You have to be physical and get him boxed out. Contest when he shoots the face-up jumper from 15-20 feet, but more worried about him driving it right. No right-hand drives! No layups.

#33 Jack Molloy: 6’8″ 225 lbs, Sophomore Forward

4.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.6 apg

Backup pick-and-pop 4-man. Willing shooter. 28 of 42 shots have been 3s. Only 8-28 this season, 28.6%. Still what he does best is catch-and-shoot. No catch-and-shoot 3s. Need to be there on the catch to take it away. Once you take away the initial catch-and-shoot he will drive it right. Not as concerned about him driving it though as getting off uncontested 3s. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot just make him score over you with you between him and the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. No catch-and-shoot 3s.

#24 Yassine Gharram: 6’3″ 185 lbs, Sophomore Guard

3.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg

Backup point guard. Will handle the ball when he comes in. Capable shooter. 6-14 from 3 which is over half of his shots this season. Just need to be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3s. More aggressive as a right-hand driver. No right-hand drives. When he drives it he is driving to PASS. Do not over-help. Tighten up to your man as he drives it toward you, especially #3 or #4. Stay between him and the basket and don’t help on the drives. More dangerous as a passer than as a finisher.

#13 Michael Feinberg: 6’4″ 195 lbs, Senior Guard

2.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.9 apg

Backup guard. Willing shooter. 18 of 33 shots have been 3s. Only 3-18 though. Just be there to give a hard contest to the obvious catch-and-shoot 3s. Stay between him and the basket.

Yale Bulldogs Offense

The Yale Bulldogs use a slow, methodical offense that will try to stretch you side to side with ball movement and spacing. They will utilize their undersized forwards as playmakers because those guys can handle the ball well. Almost all of their 3-point shooting comes from two guys, #3 Mahoney and #4 Poulakidas, so we can pack it in some off of everyone besides those two. If you protect the paint and take away left-hand drives the Bulldogs will be forced into a lot of jump shots.

All in all, this is a low-risk offense. They are content with swinging the ball multiple times and waiting for you to break down as opposed to forcing the action. That has made them one of the lowest turnover rate teams in the country, per KenPom. If we take away left-hand drives, and 3s from #3 and #4, it will be hard for them to score.

Yale Bulldogs Defense

Much like their offense, the Yale defense is just about being solid and taking away big plays. Opponents are shooting under 30% from beyond the arc and the Bulldogs are among college basketball’s elite in defensive rebounding. With their lack of raw size that is an error that still should be exploited in this one. There is no reason for us to not get second chance opportunities. Expect to see man-to-man defense that will try to stay between you and the basket. 3-point attempts will be there, but they do a good job of contesting everything because they are rarely out of position.

Keys to the Game

• KYP. Know your personnel. Four of the Bulldogs’ five starters are left-handed. Can’t give up easy baskets because you aren’t focused on them going left.
• No 3s for #3 Mahoney or #4 Poulakidas. Those two are very aggressive from beyond the arc and are shooting excellent percentages. Tighten up as the ball comes toward you and take them away.
• Stay between #22 Knowling and the basket. Left-hand driver. Not really a shooting threat from the perimeter but he is their most aggressive offensive player. Be ready for him to bring it at you.
• Dominate the glass. Yale is defensive rebounding at a nearly 80% rate so far. However, they haven’t gone against a team like Kentucky though. We have to get second-chance points and defensive rebound at 77%+ once again.