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Mamadi Diane scored a career-high 26 points against the Terps. |
Virginia returned home on Tuesday evening and got its season back on track with a rousing 103-91 victory against No. 22 ranked Maryland.
“We had a terrific practice yesterday and a very good shoot-around today so I had an air of confidence about what I thought would happen,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “We’ve got to be able to enjoy this and know that we’re capable. [Maryland] is the best defensive team in the league and we put 103 points on the board. When we’re aggressive on both ends, there are a lot of things that we can do.”
The win was Virginia’s first over Maryland since an 80-78 overtime win at University Hall in March of 2003.
“I realized it yesterday when I was in the shower, that I had never beaten Maryland,” said senior forward Jason Cain.
Sophomore swingman Mamadi Diane led UVa (10-6, 2-2 ACC) with a career-high 26 points. Four other Cavaliers – Sean Singletary (25 points), J.R. Reynolds (17), Cain (13), and Jamil Tucker (12) – scored in double figures. Laurynas Mikalauskas chipped in with six.
“Everybody put a lot of hard work in and when you put the work in, you get results,” said Singletary. “Everybody paid a lot of attention to detail on offense. We knew that we had to attack their pressure with being aggressive and that’s what we did.”
This was the third game this season in which Diane has scored more than 20 points. Diane’s performance against the Terrapins (15-4, 1-3 ACC) was extra special for him on a personal level, as he grew up in Maryland not too far from College Park and was recruited by Gary Williams.
“It’s always fun playing against Maryland,” said Diane. “It gives me that extra energy.”
Maryland’s leading scorer was senior shooting guard Mike Jones, who tallied 18 points while hitting 4 of 9 shots from 3-point range. Senior forward Ekene Ibekwe and freshman guard Greivis Vasquez notched 17 points apiece. Vasquez drained 5 of 9 3-point attempts.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 points in the first half. Just more than six minutes into the contest, Tucker hit back-to-back 3s to give Virginia a 24-14 lead. All 12 of Tucker’s points came from beyond the arc.
“Early in the game, our defense was not good enough to stop Virginia,” said Williams.
UVa took its largest lead of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the half. Diane made a steal and missed a fast break lay-up attempt. Cain swooped in and threw down a put-back dunk to give the Cavaliers a 50-30 advantage
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Jason Cain’s double-double helped the Hoos get the win. |
Cain’s greatest contribution to the winning cause, however, was his work on the glass. He pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds and helped Virginia out-rebound the Maryland 48-36.
“I really tried to stay focused on staying out of foul trouble and trying to be aggressive offensively to start the game and loosen things up for everybody else,” said Cain.
The Terrapins began to employ a full-court press and Maryland went on a 13-0 run over the final two minutes of the first half to narrow Virginia’s lead to seven points, 50-43.
Just less than four minutes into the second half, Maryland pulled within three, 56-53. Shortly thereafter, however, a Tucker 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 Virginia run that gave the Cavaliers a 15-point lead and forced the Terrapins back into their shells for good.
Three Maryland players – Will Bowers, D.J. Strawberry and Ibekwe – fouled out. Virginia enjoyed a large advantage in free throw differential as the Cavaliers went to the line 49 times compared to Maryland’s 24. UVa knocked down 39 of its 49 attempts (79.6%).
The win snapped Virginia’s three-game losing streak. The Cavaliers will next take the court on Sunday at 1 p.m. when they host Wake Forest.
Note: Recent Hall of Fame inductee and former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken was among the 14,765 fans in attendance at the John Paul Jones Arena. Ripken sat courtside on the baseline perpendicular to Virginia’s bench with his daughter Rachel.
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