The men’s basketball team returns home this weekend for another matchup with its travel partner.

The Bulldogs (8–7, 1–0 Ivy) will host the Brown Bears (7–7, 0–1) at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the John J. Lee Amphitheater after beating Brown 69–64 last week. The Elis are looking for their second straight Ivy League win and second consecutive win against the Bears.

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Last Saturday, Yale proved the better team as they left the Pizzitola Sports Center with a win. Behind 23 points and 17 rebounds from center Greg Mangano ’12 and 19 points from forward Reggie Willhite ’12, the Bulldogs began their Ivy League season with a win. Mangano scored six straight points to help the Elis edge ahead in the closing minutes. Point guard Porter Braswell ’11 secured the game by hitting two free throws with four seconds to go in the game.

Brown is coming off an 87–78 home win over Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac bested Yale in both teams’ season opener at Mohegan Sun in the Connecticut 6 Classic. Sophomore forward Tucker Halpern scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. Senior forward Peter Sullivan added 22 points.

Although Brown has had success this year, they are a very different team on the road. Away from Providence, R.I., they have a 2–6 record and are averaging 61.5 points per game, 8.4 fewer than their overall average.

The win last weekend shows that Yale can handle Brown. However, the Bulldogs know that Saturday’s match up is a new game, and the Bears will be ready to play.

“It’s hard to beat a team twice, but we’re excited for the challenge,” Braswell said. “We feel that as long as we do what we should do, we don’t expect a different outcome. We just need to go out and execute.”

On Saturday, the Bulldogs will need another good performance from Mangano if they want to take the second match with Brown. The junior center won his second consecutive Ivy League Player of the Week honor last weekend; with 14.6 points per game, 10.2 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game, Mangano is quickly putting together an impressive case for a Ivy League Men’s Basketball Player of the Year selection. The senior leads the Ivy League in blocks per game and rebounds per game and is fourth in points per game.

Saturday’s match up is also Youth Day at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Children under 14 have free admittance, and there will be an autograph session after the game.