COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A Cavalier 3-point play followed by two straight 3-point jumpers meant 9 points in 27 seconds for Virginia during the waning minutes of last night’s game against Maryland. These efforts would prove to be too little, too late for the embattled Cavaliers to come back from a 15-point half-time deficit, however, as they fell 84-78 for their third consecutive conference loss.
“It’s obviously not going to be a situation that’s [conducive] to winning when you dig a hole as we did,” Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.
While Virginia (7-8, 1-3 ACC) played a strong second half, out-scoring Maryland by 9 points after the break, failure to execute during the last 10 minutes of the first half proved enough to overwhelm any efforts of a recovery.
“When you get down, especially on the road, and work your way back, you expend so much energy that you don’t have the physical or mental capability to finish the deal off,” Leitao said.
The Cavaliers became steeped in foul trouble during the beginning of the game. Putting the Terrapins into the bonus after just nine minutes of play, freshman center Assane Sene and sophomore forward Mike Scott were both forced to sit with two fouls each, leaving junior center Jerome Meyinsse to become the lone presence in the frontcourt for significant first-half minutes.
Both teams, it seemed, struggled to find a groove at the start of the game. A 3-point shot from Maryland junior guard Eric Hayes with 3:44 left in the half, however, gave a spark to the Maryland offensive effort. The Cavaliers could do nothing to stop the hemorrhaging as they proceeded to allow the Terrapins to go on a 10-2 run and open up a 15-point lead at the break.
“We weren’t aggressive ... and if we weren’t aggressive they took advantage of it,” junior forward Jamil Tucker said.
The 9-to-1 steal deficit Virginia suffered in the first half was a mark of this lack of aggressiveness. Maryland took advantage of this, capitalizing on Virginia’s 13 turnovers while scoring 16 unanswered transition points in the first period.
The Cavaliers were upset with the “easy buckets that we gave them,” junior guard Solomon Tat said. “It was kind of frustrating so we just decided as a team that individually we’d go out there and man-up and get some stops.”
Virginia managed to slow the pace of the game at the start of the second half, quickly cutting the lead to 10 just three minutes in. Scott and Sene returned to the court and allowed the Cavaliers to exploit an advantage in the frontcourt.
“The point of emphasis on offense was to play below 15 feet,” Leitao said. “Either through getting the ball in the paint off the dribble ... off a post touch ... or on the offensive glass there are certain ways you can make a defense pay.”
Scott continued to assert himself inside for the rest of the game, drawing fouls and finishing the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Simultaneously, Leitao made thorough use of his bench during the game. In addition to extracting 42 points from his bench, he was able to augment efforts on the other side of the ball by using Tat as a defensive specialist.
“Defense is one of my strengths, and the coach is aware of that,” Tat said. “At some point in the game when we needed a stop he trusted me to go in and play some [defense]. It’s not just for me to go out there but also trying to help some of teammates so they will pick up the pace on the defensive side.”
Virginia continued to slowly chip away at the Terrapin lead throughout the second half, clamping down on the transition points that had boosted Maryland’s lead in the first half. But with seemingly countless disadvantages stacked against them, including pristine free-throw shooting by the Terrapins down the stretch, the Cavaliers came up just 6 points shy of a come-from-behind road win in the ever-challenging ACC.
“It’s stressful,” Tucker said. “Being down 15 at the half is always a problem. We are already down and we are on the road — so that’s just mind-boggling.”
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