No. 13 seed Yale stuns Auburn 78-76 in epic NCAA Tournament game at the Arena
The NCAA Tournament has three more weekends to run, but it will be hard to top Friday’s epic encounter between Yale and Auburn at the Arena.
In a game that had just about everything, 13th-seeded Yale mounted an improbable rally, then withstood everything the Tigers could muster to claim a 78-76 upset win in front of a raucous crowd.
“We stuck together today and it was a full-team effort,” said Yale guard John Poulakidas, who scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Bulldogs to only the second March Madness win in school history.
Now the Bulldogs (23-9) have a chance to double their fun. On Sunday, they will face No. 5 seed San Diego State with a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.
“I know I led us in scoring, but everybody made contributions,” Poulakidas said. “It wasn’t a one-man show tonight.”
Everyone pitched in during the frantic final minutes.
Trailing 41-34 at halftime, the Bulldogs were down 10 midway through the second half as Southeastern Conference Tournament champ Auburn (27-8) appeared to take control.
But Poulakidas came up big in the final minutes. His 3-pointer with just over 2 minutes left gave Yale a 73-72 advantage.
The Bulldogs never trailed again, but they had to hold on for dear life in the final seconds.
Following a layup by Auburn’s K.D. Johnson with 8 seconds left, Auburn won possession on a held ball, then got off two more shots, including a potential winning 3-point shot by Johnson that was off the mark.
Three minutes into the game, Auburn starting forward Chad Baker-Mazara was whistled for a Flagrant 2 personal foul after elbowing Yale’s August Mahoney while the two ran downcourt.
Baker-Mazara was ejected from the game.
Forward Johni Broome led Auburn with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Yale forward Danny Wolf had 13 points and five rebounds before fouling out late in the contest.
Yale, playing in its fourth tournament in seven seasons, previously reached the second round after upsetting Baylor in 2016.
advanced to the second round for the second time. They defeated Baylor in the first round in 2016.