Twenty minutes into Yale's season, it looked as if the Elis would not only compete with the top Ivy League squads this season but also the best in the nation.
Just one half of play into Yale's preseason NIT matchup with then-No. 1 Connecticut, the Ivy Leaguers found themselves up, 31-28.
Yale (5-10, 0-2 Ivy) held on to its lead until the Huskies went on a 14-2 run with 17:49 left en route to a 70-60 win.
Still, in front of a packed Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., and a national television audience, Yale let all know that it was a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season.
The Elis went on to win four of their next five games, losing only to then-No. 18 Wake Forest, and it looked like Yale was in the hunt for its first outright Ivy title since the 1961-62 season.
But expectations have changed in New Haven, Conn.
The Elis have lost eight of their last nine contests, with their only win coming against Division III SUNY-Old Westbury. What's worse is that two of those losses have come in the Ancient Eight to Brown, making this weekend's matchups with Penn and Princeton a fight for survival.
"Hungry and angry," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said, "both of these adjectives can be used to describe the Yale team Friday night."
Since the 1990-91 season, only two teams -- Princeton in 2000-01 and Penn in 2001-02 -- have won the Ivy title with three losses, making the remainder of Yale's games "must-wins."
"We have to come out and play exceptionally well this weekend," Yale junior guard Edwin Draughan said. "To represent the Ivy League in the tournament, we'll definitely have to win at Penn and Princeton, which is one of the hardest things to do."
Yale's Jan. 16 Ivy opener against Brown saw the Elis give up a 10-0 run in overtime. The Bears won in New Haven, 85-75.
The rematch in Providence, R.I., between the two squads saw a similar result, but not nearly as close. Four Bears scored in double digits, led by junior guard Jason Forte's 22 points, in the 77-65 Brown win.
Princeton transfer Dominick Martin has made his 6-foot-10 presence felt inside this season, leading the Elis in scoring with 12.6 points per game and rebounds per game (5.1). However, Martin has also shot the ball extremely well this season, leading the squad at 61.9 percent.
Junior Edwin Draughan is Yale's second-leading scorer, averaging 11.8 points, but his paltry 28.9 three-point shooting percentage has plagued the Elis this season.
Draughan's poor percentage from beyond the arc is, unfortunately for Yale, just about average for the Elis, as the team is only shooting 31.6 percent. While this is second worse in the Ivy League, Yale does not rely on the trey as much as other Ivy schools do.
The Elis also find themselves allowing opposing offenses to rebound one out of every three missed shots, leading to many easy second-chance buckets.
So as Yale enters its third weekend of Ivy play, the question is which Elis squad will show up. If it's the Yale team of old, don't count the Elis out just yet.
