It’s been 329 days since the John. J. Lee Amphitheater saw the excitement and heard the roar of a crowd cheering on the men’s basketball team in an Ivy League matchup.

This Saturday, Brown will bring Ancient Eight competition back to New Haven during the Bulldogs’ conference opener at 7 p.m.

With eight wins under their belt, the Bears are currently tied for the most wins in the league, along with Cornell. But the Elis are not far behind, with six wins of their own — four of them at home — and the toughest non-conference schedule in NCAA basketball.

“It’s important,” guard Caleb Holmes ’08 said of the game against Brown, “because it’s a home game. We gotta win the seven home games, and we need to get two right away against Brown because they’ve been one of those teams in the league who have been playing really well.”

The Bears’ back court — arguably the best in the Ivies — should give the Elis some trouble around the arc. Brown rookie Peter Sullivan was recently named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second time, and guard Mark McAndrew is second best in conference standings, with 16 points per game.