Makai Mason became one of the breakout Cinderella stars of the NCAA Tournament when he scored 31 points in Yale’s first-round upset win over Baylor. There will be no sequel for the Bulldogs point guard this season. Mason suffered a broken foot in Yale’s season-opening scrimmage and will miss the 2016-17 campaign.
Mason suffered the injury against Boston University and will need surgery, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
This is a devastating blow to a Yale team that was looking for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament after finishing 23-7 last year. Mason led the team in scoring (16 points per game), assists (3.8 per game), and three-pointers made (55) last season. After beating Baylor, Yale even gave Duke a stiff test in the round of 32 but ended up losing, 71-64.
If there’s good news for the Bulldogs, it’s that they don’t need to win the Ivy League outright this year to make the NCAA Tournament. The Ivy League is introducing a four-team conference tournament for the first time ever this season, ending its stay as the last holdout without a conference tournament.
It had been 54 years since Yale made the NCAA Tournament before last season’s breakthrough.
