Quick Thoughts On Monday's Games

Even without Michael Sands, Yale nearly brought the Ivy League to 2-0 against the Big East.

The Bulldogs held Providence to its worst offensive performance since the 2008-2009 season, as the Friars managed just 58 points on 70 possessions. Yale could only muster 55, however, as it made its final field goal with 2:47 to go to take a 54-53 lead, but only managed one free throw the rest of the way in the 58-55 defeat.



Greg Mangano and freshman Jeremiah Kreisberg dominated the boards with 17 rebounds between them in just 44 combined minutes, but Mangano only went 5-for-15, while firing six threes, and Kreisberg only attempted one shot.

Guards Austin Morgan and Porter Braswell had decent shooting games in scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively, but it was clear at points Yale missed an Alex Zampier-type player that it could just give the ball and ask to create.

COLUMBIA DOMINATES UMES

After scoring 30 of the game's first 37 points, the Lions went on cruise control against Maryland Eastern Shore, recording points in bunches en route to a 108-74 victory in their home opener.

Pretty much the only metric that didn't look good was ceding 74 points on as many possessions to the Hawks, but the Lions shot the ball well and rebounded even better.

Freshman guard Steve Frankoski had a huge game with 19 points in just 20 minutes, while fellow freshman Dyami Starks added 12 more in 22 minutes. Junior guard Noruwa Agho filled the stat sheet with six assists and four rebounds to go along with his 17 points.

Now the Lions face what will likely be their final stress test of the non-conference season as they visit St. John's on Wednesday night. While they'll still be heavy underdogs against a fatigued St. John's team, if they keep playing like they have in their first two games, there's no reason why the Lions can't win 10 non-conference games.