After spotting the Cavaliers an 8-point lead at the break, the Maryland Terrapins held Virginia to 9-of-32 shooting from the field (28 percent) and 27 points in the second half (UVa’s second lowest scoring second-half output of the season) en route to a 76-65 win at the Comcast Center on Tuesday night.
But it wasn’t Maryland’s defense that seemed to frustrate Virginia coach Dave Leitao; it was the poor play of his own defensive unit down the stretch that was the difference.
“We got really stagnant in the last 10 minutes of the game, sitting in that zone,” Leitao said. “The assignments we were taking care of in the first 30 minutes, we just forgot about in the last 10 [minutes].”
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Sean Singletary , shown against UNC, had 18 points against Maryland. |
Early on it appeared the 17,950 fans that filled the Comcast Center might be in for a shock as the Cavaliers bolted out to a 17-3 lead. Virginia opened the game 5 of 9 (56 percent) from the field, led by Jason Cain’s 7 points. Adrian Joseph and Sean Singletary also combined to go 2 of 4 from behind the arch in the early going, but Singletary says that big lead caused the Cavaliers to relax and Maryland took advantage of it.
“We just lost focus as a team,” explained Singletary. “We dropped our intensity and that’s why [Maryland] got back in the game. It wasn’t that they were making great plays; it was just a loss of focus, a loss of execution, and a loss of defensive intensity on our behalf. We allowed them to get back in the game. They were very uncomfortable in the beginning and we allowed them to get back in the game.”
Fellow guard J.R. Reynolds agreed.
“We got relaxed and that took us away from the aggression that we had on offense in the first couple of minutes,” Reynolds said. “We relaxed and [Maryland] took advantage of it. We weren’t aggressive enough and we didn’t carry out our assignments. We got lazy in the zone.”
Even with the Terps’ superb second-half defense, the Cavaliers had their chances despite poor execution and defensive lapses. But with the score tied at 58 and 3:48 remaining, Maryland’s Ekene Ibekwe scored six of his 14 points as part of a 15-2 Terrapin run. That burst staked the hosts to an insurmountable 73-60 lead with 54 seconds left. In the end, the Terps had secured their fifth consecutive win against the Cavaliers and Coach Gary Williams had his 349th victory at his alma mater, becoming Maryland’s all time winningest head coach.
The Terps went 3:49 before scoring their first bucket, missing their first six shots. The hosts finally got it going, however, making 7 of 13 shots to cut into the 14-point gap with an 18-10 run over eight minutes. Travis Garrison’s short jumper capped the spurt at the 8:02 mark of the first half.
Reynolds ended a 4:30 Virginia scoring drought by connecting on two free throws and Adrian Joseph ‘s 3-point bomb put the Cavaliers back up by double digits at 28-18 with 6:47 left in the half. In a half of mini-runs, the Terps again bounced back, outscoring the Cavaliers 9-2 over the next 5:06 to cut the lead to 30-27.
But as it did early in the contest, the Virginia defense limited the Terps’ offense by holding Maryland to just 3-of-13 shooting during the final 7:30 of the opening half.
That helped the Cavs produce the final rally of the half, an 8-3 run to reach a 38-30 halftime advantage.
UVa opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Reynolds to give the Cavaliers a 41-30 lead, but another 8-2 Maryland run drew the Terrapins within five at 43-38 with 15 minutes remaining. The two teams traded baskets over the next five minutes but the game’s dynamic quickly changed at the 10:15 mark of the second half. With the Cavaliers leading by seven (51-44), Reynolds was nailed with his fourth personal foul and was forced to leave the game. Singletary collected his fourth personal foul two minutes later.
With Singletary needing to play with caution and Reynolds on the bench, Virginia went scoreless over the next 3:23 and Maryland capitalized. The hosts scored nine in row to tie the score at 51 on D.J. Strawberry’s 3-point bomb from the corner with just more than eight minutes remaining. It would not be Strawberry’s last big shot.
With Reynolds back, Virginia and Maryland traded five leads changes and two ties over the next four minutes. The Terrapins claimed their first lead of the game at 53-51 as Ibekwe hit two free throws with 7:38 left. The Cavaliers regained the lead with back-to-back deuces by Laurynas Mikalauskas and Singletary, but Strawberry came up big again. Strawberry nailed another trey with 6:12 left to put the Terps back on top by one. Singletary responded with his own 3-point shot to give the Cavaliers a two-point advantage, but Stawberry had another answer to knot the game at 58. Virginia would not hold the lead again.
Strawberry led the Terps in scoring with a career high 19-points while Ibekwe posted a game-high 15 rebounds.
“I hit a couple of big shots for us today and that was just emotion going through me,” said Strawberry. “I went all out and tried to give everything I had to win this game.”
The Terps shot 39 percent from the field including 4-of-9 shooting from downtown in the second half. Maryland also nailed 21 of 24 free throws and recorded 7 blocked shots.
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Jason Cain, shown here against Loyola, had his second straight double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. |
Reynolds and Singletary paced Virginia with 18 points each, while Jason Cain added 11 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Joseph added 8 points and 6 rebounds, while Mikalauskas chipped in 8 points and 5 boards. Virginia shot 34 percent from the field, committed 16 turnovers, and out-rebounded the Terrapins 44-37.
But in the end, it was Virginia’s lack of focus and execution that led to a disappointing loss. Even the good start didn’t satisfy Leitao, who was more concerned with how his team finishes than how it starts.
“I don’t get pleased with losing,” Leitao said. “We stopped executing. We didn’t get too many good looks in the second half and we didn’t defend.”
With the loss, the Cavaliers fall to 11-9 overall and .500 in the ACC (5-5). The Terps improve to 5-4 in the league and 15-7 overall. The Cavaliers host Virginia Tech (12-10, 2-7 ACC) on Saturday at 8 p.m. Reynolds says the biggest thing for Virginia now is to regain its focus.
“It’s got to start on the practice court,” Reynolds said. “Everyone has to stay focused and not let this loss hurt us on Saturday. We need to come out with a lot of aggression and a lot of focus and be ready for this game.”
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