Yale has been off for 12 days, with finals and all. The Zips are off a high scoring loss to the Milwaukee but have won five of their last six. Both teams can shoot the three well and fall short in the defending the perimeter. The Zips have been playing at a quicker pace than past seasons and have been the more efficient offensive team over their las three games, shooting 57.4% effectively to Yale’s 49.2%. They have the rebounding edge and are able to create turnovers on the defensive end, leading to transition buckets.

Two very good teams who might win their respective conferences and get to the Big Dance -- Yale was picked second in the Ivy League and Akron second in the MAC. KenPom ranks the Bulldogs 30 spots better and seniors John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng were named to the 2024-25 Lou Henson Early Season Watch List. Why these teams thought it would be fun to meet thousands of miles away in El Paso, Texas, is beyond me. Perhaps El Paso is lovely for the holidays, dunno. Yale should be mega-prepared for the Zips considering it hasn't played since Dec. 7. Akron just played Sunday and got throttled at another neutral site by Milwaukee. Including that, the Zips are 0-3 away from home.