MEDFORD, MA (March 17, 2025) -- The No. 12 Tufts University men's basketball team will be appearing in its second Elite 8 in program history, as the Jumbos will take on New England Small College Conference (NESCAC) foe Trinity College in Ft. Wayne, IN Thursday at 6:30 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Jumbos are coming off a 74-61 win over host Wesleyan University last Saturday afternoon in their sixth-ever Sweet 16 contest, moving into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
Tournament Details
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Tufts University (23-5) vs. Trinity College (CT) (28-2)
Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 4:20 PM
Location: Allen County War Memorial Colisium - Ft. Wayne, Indiana
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Full Game Notes vs. Trinity
Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals - March 19
No. 3 St. Thomas (TX) vs. No. 15 Christopher Newport - 1:00 PM
No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan vs. No. 2 Emory University - 3:30 PM
No. 12 Tufts vs. No. 1 Trinity - 6:30 PM
No. 6 University of Chicago vs. No. 5 Mary Washington - 9:00 PM
FIRST OF ALL
- Tufts is making just its second all-time appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals Thursday, and its first since the 2016 season.
- Tufts is 17-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Jumbos are seeking their first-ever Final Four appearance in program history tonight.
- Tufts ranked No. 9 in the final NPI ranking system that determined the NCAA Tournament field.
- The Jumbos are ranked No. 12 in the lastest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll. Tufts was ranked as high as No. 4 coming into the season.
- Tufts is currently ranked No. 8 in MasseyRatings in total rating, as well as No. 4 in Power Rating.
- Tufts ranked No. 1 in the NESCAC in a bevy of categories, including blocks per game (6.0), FT attempted per game (21.7) and assists (442).
- Tufts has won 20 games in four straight seasons, which is the longest stretch ever.
- This five-person senior class of
Scott Gyimesi,
Joshua Bernstein,
James Morakis,
Sidney Wooten and
Theo Liu have won a combined 86 games, the most ever for a senior class in the 112 years of Jumbo basketball.
TUFTS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- The Jumbos are in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, which is the longest stretch in program history.
- Tufts has won at least one game in all but one of its tournament appearances, and nine straight dating back to 1995.
- The Jumbos have made it to the Elite Eight just once before, when they fell to Amherst in
2016 86-73 in Medford.
- In neutral site games in NCAA Tournament play, Tufts is 5-0 all-time.
- The Jumbos are 1-3 against NESCAC teams in the NCAA Tournament, with their first win ever coming last Saturday against Wesleyan in Middletown.
THE TOURNAMENT THUS FAR STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- In the three games so far,
Jon Medley ranks second in the NCAA Tournament in assist/turnover ratio with a 14.0 clip.
-
Joshua Bernstein ranks first with three double-doubles in the tourney, as the big man is averaging 17.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, adding six blocks (third-most).
- Tufts is holding teams to just 36.6 percent shooting from the floor during the dance, which ranks fourth among teams in competition and second behind Ill. Wesleyan among teams still alive.
- The 21 points for first-year guard
Ricardo Nieves Saturday at Wesleyan was a career-high, with 19 coming in the first half.
- Tufts has defeated two straight teams with bird mascots, knocking off a pair of Cardinals in Catholic and Wesleyan.
MORE STAT STUFFERS
- Senior
Scott Gyimesi ranks No. 13 all-time in points at Tufts with 1304, while his rebounding total of 941 is second among active Division III players and 11th in all Divisions. His double-double total of 49 in his career is first among active D-III players, behind only Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan and Raymond Baka of Franklin Pierce. He ranks just ahead of JT Toppin of Texas Tech with his 47.
- Josh Bernstein is fourth among active Division III players in blocks with 204, which is second all-time at Tufts behind Tom Palleschi '17 and his 270.
- Tufts is third in the nation in blocks per game with 6.0 stuffs a night, behind only IWU (6.7) and Mount Union (6.3).
- The Jumbos field goal defense is eighth in the nation coming into the weekend, and third in the NESCAC at a 38.5 percent clip against.
- Bernstein has posted seven straight double-digit games offensively, which has included two games of 23 or more points. Prior to this stretch, he had just two games of 20 more in his career.
- Tufts has the top two rebounders in the NESCAC coming into the week, as
Scott Gyimesi is pulling in 9.4 while Bernstein has 9.0 per game.
- Junior
Dylan Reilly is ninth in the NESCAC in made three-pointers with 54 this season.
- Junior
Zion Watt has posted 42 thefts on the year, which is 5th in the NESCAC.
MORE INTERESTING TID BITS
- The Jumbos are 14-1 this season when shooting 45 percent or better from the floor.
- When Tufts gets to 39 or more rebounds total this year, it is 17-1 overall.
- The Jumbos have scored 100 or more points in four games, the most since the 2015-16 season for Tufts.
- Tufts is 9-1 this season against teams that have blue as a primary color.
- The Jumbos have never played a game in Indiana ever prior to Thursday, and the only Indiana team Tufts has ever played was Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Ind.) though the 2002 game was in Colorado Springs, Colo. with The Little Giants winning 87-81. Tufts has played in Illinois and Ohio prior to this week, though we're told that those are indeed different states than Indiana.
MORE ABOUT COACH LINTON
- The next victory for
Brandon Linton will be his 100th at Tufts as head coach.
- Graduated from Clarkson University in 2010 ranked third all-time in assists, fourth in blocks and seventh in steals in program history.
- Linton has coached a total of eight All-NESCAC performers, including three-time First Team honoree
Scott Gyimesi.
CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS
- The NESCAC has two teams in the NCAA Quarterfinals, the second straight year this has happened.
- Since 2016, the NESCAC has had at least one team in the NCAA quarterfinals in all but three seasons (2018, 2022, 2023).
- The NESCAC is 2nd in conference efficiency ratings according to D3Datacast with a +18.0 mark. The UAA is 1st at +18.7 while the WIAC is 3rd with a +12.1 rating.
ABOUT TRINITY
- Trinity is the defending national champions, having earned the title last season with a win over NYU in the title game.
- Trinity has won 10 games in a row, including winning the NESCAC for the third straight season with an 80-55 win over Wesleyan.
- Jarell Okorougo leads the game with 15.8 points per game, adding 6.4 rebounds per game.
- Henry Vetter, an All-NESCAC First Team honoree, is posting 14.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He also has dished out 87 assists.
- Drew Lazarre posts 10.9 points per game, while Jared Berry adds 10.3 points per game as well.
--JUMBOS--
