Hofstra's Desure Buie scores 44 points in victory over Elon
Hofstra guard Desure Buie (4) goes to the basket on his way to a 44-point day during the first half on Jan. 4, 2020. Credit: Lee S. Weissman/Lee S. Weissman
Desure Buie struggled to shoot straight, along with most of his Hofstra teammates.
That was Thursday night. So Saturday’s question was: How would Buie and the Pride respond against Elon at the Mack Sports Complex after getting blown out by visiting William & Mary?
Well, they started slowly again as the Phoenix jumped out to a nine-point lead. But Hofstra responded from there, and Buie made sure of it. The 5-11 senior guard scored a career-high 44 points — including No. 1,000 — in a 102-75 win.
“I’m obviously proud of our guys for bouncing back after the clunker we had the other night,” coach Joe Mihalich said. “[Buie] just wasn’t going to let our guys stub our toe twice.”
Buie had an incredible game, hitting from inside and outside. His final shooting tab came in at 15-for-19, including 6-for-8 on three-pointers, and 8-for-8 from the line.
Buie had just scored a career-high 35 in Monday’s win at Towson, then shot 3-for-14 and scored only 10 against William & Mary. He entered Saturday averaging a team-high 17.3 points before taking a run at the school record. Justin Wright-Foreman and Bill Thieben share it with 48.
“Thursday was just one of those games,” Buie said. “I guess the ball didn’t bounce my way and our team’s way. Today I made a couple of shots and I tried to stay aggressive, and they were falling.”
Hofstra sophomore forward Isaac Kante contributed a career high-tying 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Eli Pemberton scored only six for the Pride (12-5, 3-1 CAA). The senior guard sprained an ankle in the first half but returned.
Hunter McIntosh pushed Elon (4-12, 0-3) to a 13-4 lead after 3:07, burying three three-pointers. Mihalich called for time.
Then Buie nailed a three-pointer from the right side for his first points, and
Hofstra outscored the Phoenix 43-20 to take a 47-33 advantage into halftime. Buie had 18 at that point.
The Pride opened the cushion to as many as 30, and Buie shot 8-for-9 after the break.
“He’s a great player,” said Marcus Sheffield, who had 17 points and six assists for Elon. “We knew coming in that he was going to be a threat.”
