MILWAUKEE – The Yale men’s basketball team fought until the end in its NCAA tournament first round contest against third-seeded Purdue at Fiserv Forum. The Bulldogs, which made their third appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2016, fell by a score of 78-56.
 
I'm extremely proud of my group. I thought we accomplished a lot,” said Yale head coach James Jones. “The guys played hard, they played well together and left it all out on the court.”
 
Yale senior guard Azar Swain scored a team-high 18 points. He capped off his career with 1529 points, which ranks sixth in program history.
 
Yale claimed its lone lead of the afternoon after Swain drilled a straightaway triple to go up 16-15. The Brockton, Mass., native opened the contest, making his first five field goal attempts.  Purdue responded with 10-0 scoring run to create some separation.
 
The Bulldogs shot 48.4 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, but the Boilermakers had success from the field as well. Purdue shot 53.8 percent from the field with consensus All-American Jaden Ivey leading all scorers with 18 points at the break.
 
After Yale cut the Boilermakers’ lead to single digits with the opening two baskets of the second half, Purdue used an 15-0 run to push ahead 63-39.
 
“I'm proud of our team for competing,” said senior guard Jalen Gabiddon. “We're an undersized team playing against one of the biggest teams in the country. I thought we played tough and it didn't go our way.”
 
The Bulldogs concluded the season with an overall mark of 19-12 and were 11-3 in Ivy play.