SPOKANE, Wash. -- A year ago, Yale's John Poulakidas and August Mahoney were stuck at home watching the Ivy League champion make a magical NCAA Tournament run.
The two Bulldogs wanted a taste of what that was like. Given the opportunity on Friday, they helped Yale become the latest Ivy League champion to bust some March Madness brackets.
Poulakidas scored 28 points, Samson Aletan made a key block during a wild scramble in the final seconds, and 13th-seeded Yale rallied in the final five minutes to take down No. 4 seed Auburn 78-76 in the first round on Friday.
For the second consecutive year, the Ivy League Tournament champion took down one of the pre-tournament favorites. Last year it was Princeton toppling Arizona.
This time, it was Yale's turn.
"Princeton made the Sweet 16 last year and we were at home, they beat us in the championship, and each and every one of the guys in the locker room were just itching to get our opportunity," Mahoney said. "Our opportunity presented itself. We know how good we are, so we believed."
The Bulldogs (23-9) won an NCAA Tournament game for the second time in school history, rallying from a 10-point deficit midway through the second half. After the final seconds ticked off, the players celebrated on the scorer's table in front of their fans.
Yale will face No. 5 seed San Diego State in the second round on Sunday.
"It's a great opportunity to be here. I think after I hit my first couple shots, obviously the flood gates opened," Poulakidas said. "But I'm just so glad that we had this opportunity first and could capitalize on it tonight."
Poulakidas hit big shot after big shot. His step-back three-pointer with 2:10 left gave the Bulldogs a 73-72 lead. Yale never trailed again, despite a chaotic final stretch that included Auburn getting off two shots in the closing seconds following a missed free throw, one of which was rejected by Aletan.
Auburn's K.D. Johnson had a contested look for a winning three-pointer at the buzzer that was offline.
Johni Broome led Auburn (27-8) with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but he was crumpled on the court after the loss. It looked as if he might have injured his right knee in the final scrum. Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl was uncertain when asked about the severity of the injury.
Auburn also played most of the game without starting wing Chad Baker-Mazara after he was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul in the opening minutes. Pearl agreed it was a flagrant, but didn't believe it should have been raised to the level of an ejection.
"It was inappropriate. Clearly a Flagrant 1. The fact that it was elevated to a Flagrant 2 was a decision that the official had to make, but it obviously had tremendous impact on the outcome," Pearl said.
Auburn rolled through the SEC Tournament last week and became a favored pick as a team that could take down No. 1 overall seed UConn should the pair end up clashing in the Sweet 16.
But the Tigers failed to get out the first round and joined fellow SEC schools South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and Mississippi State amid the early departures from March Madness.
SAN DIEGO STATE 69,
UAB 65
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Jaedon LeDee dominated inside on the way to 32 points, Lamont Butler added 15 and No. 5 seed San Diego State held off 12th-seeded UAB.
A year after marching to the national title game, also as a No. 5 seed, the Aztecs saw a 12-point second-half lead disappear before putting together a late surge on the strength of their star 6-9 forward to avoid a March Madness surprise in the East Region.
Quiet for most of the second half, LeDee scored on three consecutive possessions for the Aztecs (25-10) after UAB took a 56-53 lead. Butler hit a difficult fallaway, and LeDee climbed for an offensive rebound and was fouled with 1:01 left. LeDee hit both free throws to give SDSU a 66-63 lead, and he added two more foul shots with 20 seconds left.
UAB's Efrem Johnson had a contested look at a tying three-pointer with 8 seconds left, but it rimmed off, and Reese Waters' free throw with 3 seconds remaining allowed the Aztecs a chance to exhale.
LeDee made 11 of 18 shots, was 9 of 10 at the free throw line and had eight rebounds. He topped 30 points for the fourth time this season and finished two short of his career high.
UCONN 91, STETSON 52
NEW YORK -- Donovan Clingan scored 19 points and Cam Spencer added 15 as top-seeded UConn began defense of its national championship by cruising past 16th-seeded Stetson.
The top-ranked Huskies (32-3) will face ninth-seeded Northwestern on Sunday in the second round of the East Region at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Stephan Swenson scored 20 points for the Hatters (22-13), the ASun champions who were making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They never had a chance against UConn, which scored the first eight points and went on to its most lopsided NCAA victory since beating Chattanooga by 56 in the first round of the 2009 tournament.
Clingan slammed home an alley-oop from Tristen Newton to make it 8-0 with 17:16 left in the first half.
Stephon Castle made a three-pointer to push the lead to 20 with 9:06 left, and it was up to 31 when the 7-2 Clingan got free underneath for another easy layup with 5:00 left.
At the half it was 52-19. The Huskies had shot 68.8%., committed only three turnovers and outrebounded the Hatters 18-11 for good measure.
NORTHWESTERN 77,
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 65
NEW YORK -- Ryan Langborg scored 12 of his career-high 27 points in overtime, and ninth-seeded Northwestern finally put away No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic.
The injury-depleted Wildcats recovered after squandering a nine-point lead late in the second half. Brooks Barnhizer's driving layup tied it with nine seconds left.
Boo Buie had 19 of his 22 points after a quiet first half. Barnhizer added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Northwestern, which advanced in the NCAAs for the second consecutive season despite playing without injured starters Ty Berry (knee) and 7-footer Matthew Nicholson (leg), who are both finished for the season.
Vlad Goldin had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Owls (25-9).
UConn's Tristen Newton (2) gestures after making a 3-point shot during the first half of a first-round college basketball game against Stetson in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
UConn's Samson Johnson (35) and Jaylin Stewart (3) defend against Stetson's Treyton Thompson, top left, during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
UConn's Stephon Castle, left, defends Stetson's Jalen Blackmon, right, during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
UConn's Jaylin Stewart (3) protects the ball from Stetson's Aubin Gateretse (21) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
UConn's Jaylin Stewart (3) dunks the ball in front of Stetson's Alec Oglesby (0) during the first half of a first-round college basketball game against Stetson in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)