Virginia lost a back-and-forth battle to the Maryland Terrapins, 71-67, last night at University Hall.
After falling to Wake Forest last weekend, the Cavaliers hoped to use last night's game against Maryland as a stepping stone to a successful second half of their ACC schedule, but failed to do so.
Virginia did avoid a repeat of its slow start against Wake, by jumping out quickly to a 12-5 lead with less than five minutes into the game. Soon thereafter, the slim lead disappeared as fast as it appeared following a 21-2 Maryland run.
"We seemed lost at times in the first half," coach Pete Gillen said. "They shook us with the defensive pressure we worked all week on beating."
The Cavaliers fought back to a four-point deficit shortly before the half only to have Terrapin sophomore Jon Gilchrist extend Maryland's halftime advantage to seven with a devastating three-point buzzer beater. Gilchrist scored 21 points the first half, finishing the game with 26.
"I'm not surprised by [Gilchrist's] performance," junior Jason Clark said. "I played with him back in Virginia Beach and I feel like I knew what he was capable of."
After leading the Terrapins in scoring in the first half, Gilchrist found other ways to be effective during the second period the defense of freshman Gary Forbes prevented him from reaching the basket. Eight rebounds, including four clutch offensive boards, gave Gilchrist other means of impacting the game against his home-state team.
"Gilchrist was great tonight," Gillen said. "We couldn't guard him out there for a while."
The second half featured more spurts by both teams. With under 14 minutes to play, Virginia freshman Derrick Byers slashed to the bucket on back-to-back possessions, giving the Cavaliers their first lead since early in the opening half. With the raucous Virginia crowd re-energized, the game continued to sway both ways with neither team garnering a lead greater than six points.
Trailing by four points with 30 seconds to play, junior captain Devin Smith nailed a 3-pointer drawing the Cavaliers to within one point. A foul and one successful free throw later, senior captain Todd Billet dribbled the ball at the top of the key, down by two, with the game on the line. Uncharacteristically, Billet was double-teamed and had the ball stripped by Maryland freshman D.J. Strawberry. After fighting their way back time and time again, the Cavaliers were unable to get a final shot off, losing by four points to the rival Terrapins.
"We called 'switch stack,' which is a play to get the ball inside to me," junior Elton Brown said. "Unfortunately, they couldn't get it to me. It hurts to think that we didn't even get a shot off."
Another area where the Cavaliers struggled was rebounding. Although Clark finished the game with a career-high 13 boards, the team itself was out-rebounded 49-38 and 24-12 on the offensive end.
"We really got beat on the offensive glass," Gillen said. "I wish everybody had the mental and physical toughness of a Devin Smith and Jason Clark."
After beginning the season with eight consecutive wins, the Cavaliers have now dropped three games in a row, leaving them 12-7 and 2-6 in the ACC. Their next opportunity to climb back in the race for post-season births and potentially turn the season around will be this Saturday at 3 p.m. against North Carolina State.
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