Maryland arrived in Charlottesville after one of its most promising performances of the season, a 101-83 loss to #2 Michigan last Saturday in College Park.
Despite turning the ball over a staggering 151 times in their first 11 games, the Terrapins only committed 12 turnovers against the Wolverines and led by as many as nine points in the second half before Michigan took control.
Despite entering John Paul Jones Arena with a 6-5 record, Maryland hoped it had overcome the turnover issue.
Despite holding Virginia to just 24 first-half points, the Terps were again hampered by sloppy ball-handling, committing a season-high 19 turnovers in an 80-72 loss.
UVA, now 10-1, held Maryland scoreless in the game’s first five minutes, missing four shots and turning the ball over three times.
ICYMI
The Cavaliers took advantage of the poor start and jumped out to a 7-0 lead with some easy buckets.
But good fortune was short-lived for the Cavaliers as they missed their next 10 shots, allowing for the Terrapins to fight back.
It’s unclear whether it was because of Maryland’s tough defense or simply too much rust after UVA’s extended exam break.
A quick fact check confirms it was the latter: before Saturday’s game, the Terrapins had given up 100 or more points in three of their last five games.
When the first-half buzzer sounded with Virginia ahead 24-19, it might have been Maryland’s best defensive performance of the year so far.
The Terrapins limited a Virginia offense that averaged 87.9 points per game coming in to just seven points 10 minutes into the game. Maryland heavily contested UVA shots and took full advantage of the Cavaliers’ inability to make at least five shots at the rim.
Maryland coach Buzz Williams, who has now coached three different programs against UVA, said Saturday’s outcome was basically the same old, same old.
“Some of the things that have plagued us all year long seem to be some of the mountains that we couldn’t overcome,” said Williams. “We’re going to keep finding ways, marginally, to find solutions to our problems.
Those “mountains” were easier to spot than the Blue Ridge Mountains, especially in the first half.
The Terps committed 10 turnovers in the first half, resulting in 12 UVA points; that statistic alone was the main reason Maryland went from being eight points ahead at 19-11 to trailing by five at halftime.
UVA built the lead to as many as 13 early in the second half before Maryland’s Diggy Coit woke up.
Coit, who scored 31 against Michigan, was held scoreless in the first half on just three shot attempts.
Coit then knocked down consecutive threes and hit two foul shots to enable the Terps to battle back and briefly regain the lead.
However, once his scoring spree concluded, Virginia’s explosive offense was too much for Maryland.
The Cavaliers erupted for 56 points in the second half, thanks to the combined 30-point total from guards Dallin Hall and Jacari White.
For UVA, it was the ninth win in its past 10 meetings with Maryland, and its fifth overall.
UVA capitalized on Payne’s absence
Maryland was without the services of bruising 6-foot-9, 255-pound senior power forward Pharrel Payne, who leads the Terrapins in scoring (17.5) and rebounding (7.2). Payne suffered a knee injury early in the first half of the loss to Michigan.
Without Payne, Maryland faced the UVA big men with an undersized front court consisting of former Cavalier Elijah Saunders at 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7 Solomon Washington.
Saunders finished with 10 points, but was mostly ineffective.
It was interesting to get an actual comparison of Saunders’ movement without the ball against UVA.
Saunders had a role in the previous Virginia offense, but would have been a wooden peg in a square hole in Ryan Odom’s offense.
Maryland belongs in the ACC
Maryland officially left the ACC and joined the Big Ten in 2014.
The reason was apparent: Maryland needed the money, and the Big Ten needed a victim.
It was the right decision for the Terrapins, but it feels like it was the beginning of the ACC’s downfall.
While Maryland has had little success in their new home, the game Saturday at JPJ felt more like a conference game than many of the upcoming ACC matchups on the Cavaliers’ schedule.
That Jan. 7th game against Cal or the follow-up on the 10th with Stanford won’t match the intensity of Saturday’s game with Maryland.
Oh, well, another casualty of the lure of big money.
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