Yale guard John Poulakidas exploded for the No. 13 Bulldogs during their epic 78-76 win against the No. 4 Auburn Tigers during their NCAA tournament first-round clash.

He registered 28 points, two rebounds and two assists in the encounter to topple Bruce Pearl’s crew.

He went 6-of-9 from beyond the arc.

His girlfriend, Kylie Feuerbach, who plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes turned into a fan girl at the game as she prepares for her team’s first-round clash against the Holy Cross Crusaders.

Feuerbach posted several pictures of herself watching the clash and cheering on her boyfriend on her Instagram stories.

John Poulakidas is averaging 13.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists this season and was recently named to the All-Ivy second team. The 28-point haul in the first-round clash was his season best.

With 7:27 remaining, the Auburn Tigers led by 10 points, and with 2:11 remaining, Poulakidas drained the last and the most clutch of his six 3-pointers to take a 73-72 lead.

“After I hit my first couple of shots, obviously the floodgates opened,” John Poulakidas said during his postgame news conference. “But I am just so glad that we had this opportunity first and could capitalize on it today.”

Poulakidas further praised the strength of the Ivy League, which is underappreciated in some quarters, and praised his team’s effort in the game.

“We have a very undervalued league,” John Poulakidas said. “Everybody saw what Princeton did last year, and this year, they had a tremendous season…For us to come into the building today against a top 10 team in the country and perform how we did, I am very proud of everybody in our locker room.”

Yale’s best-ever win

The win against Bruce Pearl’s team was only the Yale Bulldogs’ second-ever win in the NCAA Tournament, with the first one coming eight years ago against the Baylor Bears.

Even in the game against the Tigers, they only had the lead for a total of four minutes and 19 seconds.

During his postgame news conference, Yale coach James Jones called the Tigers the greatest team the Bulldogs have ever beaten in their history.

“I don’t know if that’s the best win in Yale basketball history, but I will tell you that’s the best basketball team that we’ve beaten in Yale basketball history as far as I’m concerned,” Jones said.

Next up for Yale and John Poulakidas is a clash against No. 5 seed, the San Diego Aztecs, who opened their March Madness campaign with a 69-65 win against the UAB Blazers.