NEWARK, DE — The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team got revenge on the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens in their 78-62 victory at the Bob Carpenter Center in Delaware Saturday, Feb. 22. They lost their previous matchup to the Blue Hens on Jan. 23, 73-71.
The win is their 22nd overall and eighth in a row. Additionally, this is the 13th win for the Pride in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play, clinching at least a share of first place.
“[It’s] something to really be proud about,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “But… the only winning streak anybody cares about is that three-game winning streak in March.”
The game couldn’t have gone off to a worse start for the Pride as the Blue Hens pounced on them, immediately jumping out to an 8-0 lead. After taking a timeout, Tareq Coburn and Eli Pemberton combined for an 11-2 run, giving the Pride the lead.
The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the first half with neither side gaining too much of an advantage. After starting the first half cold, Desure Buie rattled off six straight points to close the half, including a last-second jump shot that gave the Pride a 32-31 lead heading into the break.
A big part of what kept the Pride in this game despite shooting just 34.3% from the field in the first half was their rebounding. They won the battle of the boards 22-16 in the half, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass. This advantage not only limited the number of possessions for the Blue Hens, but it gave the Pride more opportunities to break out of their shooting slump.
Early on, the second half went much like the first, with both teams trading baskets. An and-one layup by Collin Goss put the Blue hens up 43-40 with 14:02 remaining, though it would turn out to be their last lead of the game.
Over the next seven minutes, Pemberton and Buie combined for 18 points in a 20-6 run for the Pride, catapulting their lead to 11 points. The lead never got below nine as the Pride cruised to the final score of 78-62.
After a rough shooting first half, the Pride ultimately figured it out in the second half, shooting 48% from the field and 60% from three. This change was primarily due to the dominant performance by the duo of Pemberton and Buie. They combined for 34 of the Pride’s 46 points in the second half on 69.2% from the field. In total, Buie and Pemberton combined for 52 points, scoring 27 and 25, respectively.
“Desure makes big shots, [Eli’s] making big shots, Isaac Kante’s making his foul shots and scoring around the basket,” Mihalich said. “We’ve got a good group. We’ve got to keep developing, and we’ve got to stay hungry. Hungry dogs run faster.”
Another significant factor in the Pride’s win was that they limited Delaware’s presence in the paint. The main reason the Pride lost their last game against the Blue Hens was that sophomore forward Justyn Mutts was unstoppable, scoring 30 points. In this game, they held Mutts to just 14 points.
“We just shaded him better. We were more conscious of him,” Mihalich said. “[Delaware], you’ve got to guard them inside and outside.”
The Pride’s success inside allowed them to focus on slowing down Delaware’s outside attack, keeping them to only 20.8% from beyond the arc.
The Pride look to extend their win streak to nine games on Thursday, Feb. 27, when they host the Towson University Tigers.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
