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Mike Scott scored 16 points but the Hoos couldn’t slow down Maryland. |
Entering Monday night’s make-up game with Maryland, the Virginia men’s basketball team had allowed 61 points per game, which included an average of 63.1 in ACC games. Maryland had more than that with 12 minutes still to play. Yes, the results were as bad as that sounds.
The Cavaliers fell in College Park 85-66, dropping the Hoos to .500 in the ACC for the first time this season. UVa has lost three straight games for the first time in coach Tony Bennett’s tenure.
“After at least competing and battling on Saturday [at Virginia Tech] to come out tonight and really get outplayed in every area from a tangible and intangible standpoint, that hurt,” Bennett told the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “I thought we were a step behind in just about every area.”
UVa’s biggest problem defensively was clearly Greivas Vasquez. The Terrapins’ senior guard exploded for 25 points in the first half on 10-of-12 shooting. He scored on curl-cut jumpers. He scored on lay-ups. He scored on drives. He scored just about anyway he wanted to score.
And when he wasn’t shooting, he was passing. By the end of the first half, he had 5 assists as well. One of the key helpers in the half came in what proved to be the game’s decisive run. Just after the Cavaliers cut the lead to 24-21, Vasquez ignited an 10-0 run by the Terps that essentially knocked out the Hoos; that scoring burst was capped with a look-away, cross-court pass from Vasquez that found Eric Hayes spotting up beyond the 3-point arc. Hayes drained the jumper to give the hosts a 34-21 lead as Bennett called a timeout. Virginia never recovered.
Vasquez finished with 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. In the end, the Terrapins combined for 22 assists on 36 field goals as Vasquez led four players in double figures. The Terps shot 56.3 percent from the field, including a startling 70 percent in the first half.
“They got us in transition. They got us on the start and in the end on offensive rebounds. They ducked us in. They beat us on cuts,” Bennett said. “We didn’t play a team-oriented defense tonight. We weren’t helping each other. I haven’t seen that all year. It certainly was alarming to see that and we have to go back and try to get better.”
While the Hoos struggled on defense, a positive side emerged on the offensive end. Jeff Jones appeared as one bright spot in the loss as he scored 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting just two days after Bennett lamented the team’s lack of a third scorer. If Jones consistently can provide those missing perimeter points while showing improvement on defense, it could boost the Hoos’ hopes of grabbing more ACC wins down the stretch.
Beyond Jones, Mike Scott and Sylven Landesberg were the only Hoos to crack the 10-point barrier; Scott posted 16 on 5-of-8 shooting while Landesberg added 12 on 5-of-13 shooting. Outside of that trio, the rest of the Cavaliers combined for 22 points on 7-of-26 shooting. For the game, UVa shot 37.9 percent with just 8 assists. Maryland out-rebounded Virginia 42 to 28.
“We certainly struggled and it revealed some things and there’s not much time to turn around [with Florida State on Wednesday] so hopefully we’ll have learned our lesson,” Bennett said. “But that was a thorough beatdown without a doubt.”
