Maryland seems to have Virginia’s number when it comes to “last” games.
The Terps defeated the Hoos in the last game at Cole Field House in 2002, 112-92. They spoiled the Last Ball In U-Hall party in 2006, 71-70. The trend continued Sunday when Maryland’s men’s basketball team won its last regular season game in the ACC, 75-69.
“It was a great atmosphere, it always is here. Coach [Gary] Williams, I saw him right across from our bench and obviously that’s special for all he’s done for Maryland basketball. The crowd was lively. … I don’t know that it mattered much, it was just a team that outplayed us,” UVa coach Tony Bennett said. “Maryland’s talented. They’ve been close, really close in a lot of games and you could see it when they got going. We didn’t have enough to pull away. … We did get it to overtime and they answered the bell again. The credit goes to them on that one.”
Thanks to a Cavalier rally, Maryland needed overtime to win its last regular season ACC game after 61 years in the conference. The Terrapins led 62-58 with 2:38 to play and 64-61 after two Jake Layman free throws with 4.1 seconds to go. Playing the strategy game, the Terps fouled since they were leading by three in the waning seconds. Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon’s made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second one with 2.8 on the clock. The rebound bounced out of bounds off of Maryland, giving the visitors one final chance with 1.7 seconds left. UVa scored on a baseline out of bounds lob to Anthony Gill that sent the game to overtime tied 64-64.
But the visitors couldn’t carry that game-saving momentum into overtime where the hosts led througout the extra five minutes. Maryland’s Seth Allen and Dez Wells keyed the OT success. Allen scored two lay-ups and a free throw on three drives into the paint that pushed the Terps’ lead to 69-64 midway through the period. After Virginia climbed to within two points on an old-fashioned three-point play from Evan Nolte, Wells answered with a post-up bucket in the lane too. Layman then sealed the win with four free throws in the final 40 seconds.
Allen, Wells, and Layman proved to be a thorn in the side all day long for UVa. That trio combined for 48 of Maryland’s 75 points. Allen and Wells, in particular, caused a lot of problems with repeated drives into the paint where Maryland outscored Virginia 32-20. Allen finished with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting plus 4 of 6 free throws. Wells added 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting plus 8 of 8 free throws. Layman made just one shot, but also hit 8 of 8 free throws to get to 10 points. Add in 13 points from Evan Smotrycz, who connected on 5 of 7 shots, and it is clear that the Hoos didn’t have the same defensive success that had helped them win 16 ACC games this season.
Maryland shot 47.9% for the game and made 24 of 30 free throws on 23 Virginia fouls.
“As they stretch [the floor], we still try not to stretch. We just try to get that ball stopped and then be there when the passes are there,” Bennett said. “They had us a little bit in no man’s land. We weren’t really packed and we weren’t out there taking passes away. It’s a tough spot to be in with their ability to penetrate and their completeness on the perimeter to stretch you.”
The Cavaliers couldn’t answer offensively despite hanging in there on the scoreboard. Brogdon and Joe Harris, Virginia’s leading scorers, each tallied 12 points but struggled to make shots (6 of 19, 31.6%). Harris hit 3 of 10 attempts, but put up some points thanks to making 5 of 6 free throws. Brogdon, meanwhile, hit 3 of 9 attempts but added 6 of 8 free throws. Brogdon, who scored in double figures in all 18 ACC games, did tie a career-high with 7 assists.
Gill and London Perrantes provided some scoring punch while that duo struggled from the floor. Gill led the Hoos with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Perrantes added 14 points. Perrantes made 4 of 6 3-pointers (tied a career-high for made triples). Beyond that pair, however, UVa did not put the ball in the basket. In addition to Brogdon and Harris, four others misfired on multiple shots too. Akil Mitchell, Mike Tobey, Justin Anderson, and Nolte combined to shoot 5 of 19 from the floor (26.3%). For the game, Virginia recorded just 38.6% shooting.
“We knew we were going to have to play our best to come away with one, and we almost did, but we’ve got some things we can improve on,” Bennett said. “We’re good because we’re collectively good. We have individual talent, please don’t get me wrong, but we’re good when we’re so collective defensively and that’s been our strength. And offensively when it gets fractured a little it, then it becomes a challenge. So we’ve got to keep working on that heading into an exciting time.”
Sunday’s loss ended what had been a remarkable run for the Hoos, who had not lost since a Jan. 13 trip to Duke. Over the next two months, Virginia rattled off 13 straight wins to set a program record for consecutive ACC victories. All but four of those wins came by double figures as the Cavaliers climbed the conference standings and national polls to finish as the outright ACC regular season champions for the first time in 33 years.
Still, the Wahoos want to regroup for the postseason. The Cavaliers play Friday at noon in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
Let’s do it to the rest of the acc Hoos!!!