ITHACA, N.Y. -- Yale shot 63 percent from the floor overall and 48 percent from beyond the arc to remain unbeaten in Ivy League play, running past Cornell 103-88 on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Bulldogs improved to 14-6 (7-0 Ivy), while the Big Red slipped to 13-7 (5-2 Ivy).

Junior Cooper Noard scored a career-high 28 points to lead four double figure scorers for the home team, with AK Okereke, Nazir Williams and Adam Hinton each scoring 14. Okereke added six assists and five rebounds, while Noard hit six 3-pointers on the night as Cornell connected on 15 as a team. Cornell shot 47 percent overall and assisted on 21 baskets in the defeat.

Yale got 32 points from John Poulakidas, including three step-back 3-pointers as the shot clock was expiring in the second half to keep the Big Red at arm's length. Nick Townsend added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists on 11-of-13 shooting, making the duo 23-of-31 from the floor. Neither could outshine guard Bez Mbeng, whose 15-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound, 5-steal triple-double was the second in Newman Arena history by a men's player. Yale had the first in 2020 when Jordan Bruner had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in an 81-80 Yale victory in double overtime. Yale's starters accounted for 85 points, 23 rebounds and 19 assists in the win.

In a high-level, high-pace first 16 minutes of game action, the two teams went shot-for-shot while trading the lead 12 times before Yale took control late. The Big Red went up 44-40 on a Noard trey with 4:11 remaining before the break, but the offense went quiet for a spell. Consecutive 3-pointers by Poulakidas in the span of just 23 seconds broke a tie score as part of a 14-0 run to enter the locker room. Poulakidas (19) and Townsend (17) combined for 36 points on 14-of-18 shooting for Yale. Cornell hit 10 3-pointers by halftime (10-of-20) to keep pace most of the way.

An 8-2 Yale run out of the break ballooned the lead to 16 (62-46) and eventually crested at 22. Cornell never got the deficit into single digits despite scoring 44 second half points, and Poulakidas and Townsend answered nearly every Big Red basket with one of their own. Mbeng secured his triple double with a rebound with 1:17 remaining before the benches emptied. Noard scored 17 after the break for the home team to surpass his previous career high of 21 points set in the win at Cal earlier this season.

UP NEXT
• Cornell will look to complete the season sweep of Harvard when it meets the Crimson on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion.
• The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
• Cornell enters the game with a six-game road win streak, its longest in nearly two decades.
• It will be the second matchup between the teams in 13 days, with Cornell earning a 75-60 win over Harvard on Feb. 1 at Newman Arena.