Yale vs Princeton Prediction, Ivy League Championship Game Preview

Yale vs Princeton Prediction, Ivy League Championship Game Preview

Yale vs Princeton How To Watch

Date: Saturday, Sunday, March 12
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Jadwin Gymnasium, Princeton, NJ
How To Watch: ESPN2
Record: Yale (21-7), Princeton (20-8)
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Why Yale Will Win

The Yale offense will keep the game uptempo and fun.

It's able to get up and down the floor in a hurry, there are enough threes to keep defenses honest, and the defense generates enough takeaways to get into the transition game fast. 

It was able to get by Princeton in Jadwin a month ago even when the shooting wasn't sharp - it did an uncharacteristically good job on the offensive boards. That was a function of missed shots, but to come up with 11 rebounds against the Tigers on the offensive end was impressive.

The home side's biggest issue will be the mistakes - it turns it over a ton. Princeton only turned it over eight times in the first meeting, and got blown out. It turned it over 16 times in the second game. Give it up against the Yale defense and it's an instant two points the other way.

But ...

Why Princeton Will Win

Princeton has the offense to fill it up, too.

It might not get on the move like Yale does, but it's great at coming up with big shots from the outside, the O can work it around well, and forgetting the problems in the two previous games, the rebounding ability should be an advantage.

The team is 9-1 when allowing fewer than 28 rebounds, and in this it has to clean up everything on the defensive glass. 

It's going to take a strange mix of things to pull this off - even at home. It didn't do anything to get to the free throw line in the first game, remedied that with 31 free throw attempts in the second meeting, and the aggressiveness has to combine with a huge performance from the defense that ...

Yale vs Princeton What's Going To Happen

Princeton can't slow down Yale.

Being at home should matter a little bit, and it's possible to pull this off by keeping the Bulldogs to under 45% from the field, but everything will have to drop from the field. 

Yale is 16-1 when holding teams to under 42% from the field and is 5-6 when it doesn't. 

Princeton has only been held under 42% seven times overall and just twice at home. It'll be a great firefight with free throws - Yale is at a huge disadvantage here - making the difference late.

Yale vs Princeton Prediction, Line

Princeton 84, Yale 81
Line: Yale -3, o/u: 140.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
Must See Ranking: 4
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- NCAA Tournament Bracket Predictions