# 2015–16 Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Yale University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by seventeenth-year head coach James Jones, played their home games at John J. Lee Amphitheater of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium and were members of the Ivy League. They finished the season 23–7, 13–1 in Ivy League play, to win the Ivy League championship. They received the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first NCAA bid since 1962, where they defeated Baylor in the first round to advance to the second round where they lost to Duke.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs lost their one-game playoff against Harvard 53–51. Despite having posted an 11–3 Ivy League record and a 22–10 overall record the Bulldogs were not invited to a postseason tournament.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Armani Cotton | 12 | G | 6'7" | 215 | Senior | New York City, NY | Graduated |
| Javier Duren | 20 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Senior | St. Louis, MO | Graduated |
| Grey Kelley | 32 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Senior | Newton, MA | Graduated |
| Matt Townsend | 42 | F | 6'7" | 240 | Senior | Chappaqua, NY | Graduated |

## Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Alex Copeland #78 PG | North Hollywood, CA | Harvard-Westlake High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jun 7, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| Eli Lininger #83 SF | Eugene, OR | South Eugene High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 21, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 67 ||||||
| Matt Greene #121 PF | New York City, NY | Hotchkiss School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jul 28, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 55 ||||||
| Trey Phills SG | Charlotte, NC | Charlotte Christian School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 14, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Blake Reynolds PF | Jackson, MO | Jackson High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Sep 25, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 6, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

College recruiting information (2016) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Eric Monroe #63 PG | San Diego, CA | Saint Augustine High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 |||||||
| Miye Oni SF | Suffield, CT | Suffield Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 1, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 6, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 13, 2015* 3:00 p.m. | | vs. Fairfield Connecticut 6 Classic | W 70–57 | 1–0 | William H. Detrick Gymnasium New Britain, CT |
| November 16, 2015* 7:00 p.m. | | Sacred Heart Connecticut 6 Classic | W 99–77 | 2–0 | John J. Lee Amphitheater (778) New Haven, CT |
| November 19, 2015* 7:00 p.m. | | at Lehigh | W 79–67 | 3–0 | Stabler Arena (995) Bethlehem, PA |
| November 22, 2015* 4:30 p.m., ESPNews | | at SMU | L 69–71 | 3–1 | Moody Coliseum (6,852) Dallas, TX |
| November 25, 2015* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at No. 6 Duke | L 61–80 | 3–2 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| November 29, 2015* 2:00 p.m. | | at Albany | L 54–88 | 3–3 | SEFCU Arena (2,418) Albany, NY |
| December 2, 2015* 7:00 p.m. | | Bryant | W 79–40 | 4–3 | John J. Lee Amphitheater (696) New Haven, CT |
| December 5, 2015* 2:00 p.m. | | Vermont | W 72–54 | 5–3 | John J. Lee Amphitheater (1,114) New Haven, CT |
| December 9, 2015* 8:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Illinois | L 65–69 | 5–4 | State Farm Center (11,648) Champaign, IL |
| December 13, 2015* 4:00 p.m., P12N | | at USC | L 56–68 | 5–5 | Galen Center (4,117) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 30, 2015* 7:00 p.m. | | at Central Connecticut | W 62–42 | 6–5 | William H. Detrick Gymnasium (1,237) New Britain, CT |
| January 2, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | at Hartford | W 88–53 | 7–5 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (1,133) Hartford, CT |
| January 6, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | NJIT | W 83–65 | 8–5 | John J. Lee Amphitheater (886) New Haven, CT |
| January 8, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | Daniel Webster | W 94–53 | 9–5 | John J. Lee Amphitheater (622) New Haven, CT |
| Ivy League regular season ||||||
| January 16, 2016 5:00 p.m. | | Brown | W 77–68 | 10–5 (1–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (1,878) New Haven, CT |
| January 23, 2016 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Brown | W 90–66 | 11–5 (2–0) | Pizzitola Sports Center (1,302) Providence, RI |
| January 29, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | Penn | W 81–58 | 12–5 (3–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (1,666) New Haven, CT |
| January 30, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | Princeton | W 79–75 | 13–5 (4–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,187) New Haven, CT |
| February 5, 2016 5:00 p.m., FS1 | | Columbia | W 86–72 | 14–5 (5–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,219) New Haven, CT |
| February 6, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | Cornell | W 83–52 | 15–5 (6–0) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (1,684) New Haven, CT |
| February 12, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | at Dartmouth | W 75–65 | 16–5 (7–0) | Leede Arena (787) Hanover, NH |
| February 13, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | at Harvard | W 67–55 | 17–5 (8–0) | Lavietes Pavilion (2,195) Cambridge, MA |
| February 19, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | at Princeton | L 63–75 | 17–6 (8–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium (4,211) Princeton, NJ |
| February 20, 2016 6:00 p.m. | | at Penn | W 79–58 | 18–6 (9–1) | The Palestra (3,246) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 26, 2016 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Harvard | W 59–50 | 19–6 (10–1) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,532) New Haven, CT |
| February 27, 2016 8:00 p.m., ASN | | Dartmouth | W 76–71 $^{OT}$ | 20–6 (11–1) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (2,018) New Haven, CT |
| March 4, 2016 6:00 p.m., ASN | | at Cornell | W 88–64 | 21–6 (12–1) | Newman Arena (1,734) Ithaca, NY |
| March 5, 2016 7:00 p.m. | | at Columbia | W 71–55 | 22–6 (13–1) | Levien Gymnasium (2,720) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2016* 2:45 p.m., CBS | (12 W) | vs. (5 W) No. 21 Baylor First Round | W 79–75 | 23–6 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,656) Providence, RI |
| March 19, 2016* 2:40 p.m., CBS | (12 W) | vs. (4 W) No. 19 Duke Second Round | L 64–71 | 23–7 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,679) Providence, RI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source: