Virginia zones out at the end
Cavs get out to early lead, but defensive switch benefits Terps
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 8, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Virginia men's basketball team can't blame its third consecutive road loss on a slow start.

U.Va. scored the first 13 points MARYLAND 76 VIRGINIA 65last night at theComcast Center, to the disbelief of Maryland's players, coaches and fans. The final 10 minutes of this ACC game, however, belonged to the Terrapins, who blew past the short-handed Cavaliers and won 76-65 before a sellout crowd of 17,950.

Against a Virginia team with seven healthy scholarship players, Maryland (5-4, 15-7) didn't take its first lead until the 7:39 mark of the second half. U.Va. (5-5, 11-9) twice regained the lead, but the Terps wouldn't retreat.

After sophomore guard Sean Singletary's two free throws pulled U.Va. to 60-60 with 3:09 left, the Terrapins ran off 13 consecutive points to secure their fifth consecutive victory in this series. For the third consecutive season, the Cavaliers collapsed in College Park after leading by seven or more in the second half.

"They're a good team, but we wanted this win for Coach on the home court," said Maryland junior Ekene Ibekwe, who contributed 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Ibewke put the Terrapins ahead for good with a basket at the 2:58 mark and helped ensure that Gary Williams became the all-time winningest coach at his alma mater. Williams has guided Maryland to 349 wins in his 17 seasons, one more than Lefty Driesell amassed in 17 seasons there.

Virginia's first-year coach, Dave Leitao, huddled with Wil- liams after the final horn sounded.

"I told him the same thing I told you guys," Leitao said at his postgame press conference. "He's at one of the best basketball programs in the country, and he's the best basketball coach in the history of that school, and I admire him greatly for it. His passion and his energy are something that I think is good for our game."

As the final seconds ticked away, Williams' emotions overcame him.

"It was tough at the end of the game," Williams said, "because you really think about how lucky you are."

The victory didn't come easily for the Terrapins, who ended a three-game losing streak. They trailed 51-42 with 10:25 left before suddenly shaking their lethargy, thanks in part by the foul trouble that sent U.Va. guard J.R. Reynolds to the bench for more than three minutes.

Maryland scored on 16 of its final 20 possessions to win going away. Most of the Terps points' came against a 2-3 zone that grew increasingly passive as the second half wore on.

With his top two players Singletary and Reynolds -- carrying four fouls apiece for the final 8:18, Leitao opted not to have the Cavs play man-to-man defense.

"We got real stagnant and started sitting in our zone," Leitao said. "We weren't guarding people in our area, and they were attacking, and we didn't respond to that challenge. . . . The assignments that we were taking care of the first 30 minutes, we just forgot about the last 10."

In its previous two road games, Virginia had fallen behind 20-2 at Duke and 14-2 at N.C. State. Last night, U.Va. swingman Adrian Joseph opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Maryland was blanked until Mike Jones' trey made it 13-3 about 4 minutes into the game.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Reynolds said. "We just didn't finish the game."

Reynolds and Singletary scored 18 points apiece to lead the Cavaliers, but neither shot well. Reynolds was 6 for 20 from the floor, and Singletary was 6 for 19. They got some help from 6-10 junior Jason Cain (11 points, 13 rebounds), but neither Joseph nor freshman swingman Mamadi Diane scored in the second half.

After intermission, Reynolds and Singletary scored all but five of Virginia's points.

 

Cavaliers fade down stretch
Terps fight back from early deficit
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
February 8, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Dave Leitao's team finally figured out how to get off to a good start in a road ACC game. Now it just needs to work on its finishes.
Virginia, which was in a coma-like state in the early moments of losses at Duke and N.C. State, came flying out of the gate at Maryland on Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers raced to a 13-0 lead and led by as many as 14 in the first half. However, they went into a nasty funk in the game's final three-plus minutes. The end result was a 76-65 Maryland win - one that made Terrapins coach Gary Williams the school's all-time winningest coach.

"Virginia came out and played at a very high level," Williams said. "We had to really dig deep to find a way to play against Virginia because they're a very good team."

Maryland, which snapped a three-game losing streak, was led by guard D.J. Strawberry, who scored a career-high 19 points. Strawberry, not known for his outside touch, hit two 3-pointers and did most of his damage on the perimeter.

Mike Jones added 15 for the Terrapins (15-7, 5-4) and Ekene Ibekwe chipped in with 14.

The Cavaliers (11-9, 5-5), who host Virginia Tech on Saturday, were led by Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. Each had 18 points.

As has been the case in all of Virginia's losses this season, Leitao didn't find too many positives. He cut a reporter off who used the word "pleased" in a question.

"I'm going to keep saying this until I'm not coach anymore," Leitao said. "I don't get pleased with losing."

Virginia had the Comcast Center crowd silenced in the early-going - not an easy thing to do. The Cavaliers had one of their best stretches of the season.

Adrian Joseph hit a 3-pointer on the team's first shot attempt. Sean Singletary followed with a 3 of his own, then hit on a put-back a minute later. Jason Cain and Joseph followed with stick-back shots.

Cain was a beast on the boards, hauling in nine first-half rebounds.

"We played with collective focus and energy," said Leitao of the team's effort early on. "We talked about getting off to a good start. To [our] credit, [we] did.

"We gave ourselves a cushion on the road."

It just wasn't big enough. Not nearly big enough.

Virginia led by eight at the half and by nine after Reynolds hit a 3-pointer with a little over 10 minutes to play. That's when Virginia players said they "lost focus."

"The game was ours to win, but we just lost it," said Singletary, who took a couple of hard spills in the second half.

The Cavaliers were once again hurt by their lack of depth, which got them into foul trouble. They were forced to play a lot of the second half in a 2-3 zone that proved porous.

"We just got real stagnant and started standing in our zone," Leitao said. "We weren't guarding people in our area and they were attacking, and we didn't respond to that challenge."

The Terrapins went on an 11-0 run over the next 2:30 to tie the game at 51.

"We didn't execute like we were supposed to," Reynolds said. "We were just letting them do whatever they wanted. We just relaxed and didn't carry out our assignments."

Still, Virginia hung close. When Maryland's James Gist missed a wide-open dunk that he tried to put too much mustard on, it looked like it still may be the Cavaliers' night.

The game was tied at 60 at the 3:09 mark, but then Maryland went nuts, outscoring Virginia 16-5 the rest of the way. The Cavaliers had just two field goals in the last five minutes of play.

Maryland played with the desperation of a team that hadn't won since Jan. 25 at Georgia Tech.

"We needed this win badly," Strawberry said, "and it felt great."

Reynolds said Virginia can learn from the loss.

"I love to play on the road," he said. "I just think when the crowd gets into it, we lose our focus and that's when things fall apart for us."

DUNKS: The Cavaliers played without T.J. Bannister (sports hernia injury). Bannister said he felt fine. He said he didn't play because of his limited practice time lately. He said he would be ready to go for Virginia Tech. ?

A 3-point basket by Adrian Joseph in the first half had to be reviewed by referees, who were unsure if Joesph had stepped on the line. After checking out a courtside monitor, the basket was counted as a 3. ?

Maryland leads the series 100-64. UVa has lost the last five meetings in the series. Williams passed former Terrapins coach Lefty Driesell in career wins. He now has 349. His 145 ACC wins are third all-time in the ACC (behind Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski). Williams is the 11th winningest active coach in NCAA Division I with an overall record of 556-313. "He coaches with the same level of energy and passion that I like to think we play with in our program," Leitao said, "and I admire him."

 

Virginia still looking for court focus
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress
February 8, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Alright, already. Enough of the RPI chatter and all that bubble babble. Until this young Virginia team can learn to keep its focus, particularly on the ACC road, all this talk about postseason is about as useful as leaving tickets for Elvis at will call.
The Cavaliers, now 1-4 on the ACC road and 2-7 in overall trips outside their jurisdiction, gave Wahoo faithful a reason to dream in the first half of Tuesday night's game at Maryland. Coach Dave Leitao's team bolted to a 17-3 getaway, led 28-18 late in the half and held on for a 38-30 cushion at the break.

But just like some of UVa's flirtations with pulling off a road win, this was just another classic case of Satan's joy buzzer. Every time the Cavs appeared to be on the verge of locking up another win, buzzzzzzz ... they fell flat on their collective faces.

Terps gain intensity

As the game wore on, Virginia's focus faded, Maryland's intensity picked up and all of a sudden the Cavaliers' effort resembled one of those 30-car pileups on the nearby Beltway.

Maryland, which had struggled of late without leading scorer Chris McCray (who was declared academically ineligible), was desperately attempting to battle its way out of a three-game losing streak.

The rally became serious with about 10-and-a-half minutes left in the game when UVa's J.R. Reynolds drilled a 3-pointer for a nine-point lead (51-42), then was whistled for his fourth foul. Showing their desperation, the Terps went on an 11-0 run to take a 53-51 lead.

Virginia's hopes sailed off the tracks a few minutes later after Sean Singletary knotted the game at 60-all with a pair of free throws with 3:09 to play. The Terps then reeled off 13 straight unanswered points for a 73-60 lead with less than a minute to play, leaving the Cavs at 5-5 in the league and 11-9 overall with seven regular season games remaining.

Breaking down the loss

When it was over, Leitao blamed the colossal breakdown on a lack of focus, a familiar refrain after most of Virginia's losses this season.

Meanwhile, Maryland's Gary Williams, who with the victory became the Terps' all-time wins leader with 349, said Virginia's early success sent a message to his team as to what level of play they had to meet.

But Leitao couldn't get away from the focus thing.

"We got stagnant and started standing in our (2-3) zone," the Virginia coach complained. "We weren't guarding people in our area. They were attacking and we weren't responding to that challenge. We paid a price for not boxing out."

A brief visit to the Cavaliers' locker room produced similar findings. The players resembled programmed robots as they blamed the setback on, again, the lack of focus.

"It's nothing that we haven't learned already," said Singletary, who finished with 18 points and only two assists. "We should have known what to do. [Maryland] was very uncomfortable early and we let them get back in the game."

Jason Cain, who produced his second straight double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) and sixth of the year, said that it's time to hold focus for 40 minutes.

"We should know by now," he said. "We've played 20 games."

Maryland didn't shoot particularly well, 39 percent for the game, but was efficient enough during the runs to hold off Virginia, which has now lost five straight to the Terps, eight of the last 11 meetings, and has won only once in its last 14 visits across the Potomac.

The Cavaliers, one of the ACC's most inaccurate shooting teams, found the basket only 34.4 percent of the time. Singletary and Reynolds, perhaps the league's most potent backcourt, couldn't find the mark, going a combined 12 of 39 (30.8). The rest of the team made only nine collective shots.

Leitao is probably tiring from having to lean so heavily on his guards night in and out, but he doesn't have options. Adrian Joseph and Mamadi Diane, normally strong contributors from the wings, didn't play well, hitting 4 of 14 shots, which applied even more pressure on the normally reliable guards to hit the bulls eye.

No wonder it was the first time all season that Maryland pulled out a win when trailing with five minutes to play.

There goes that joy buzzer again.

Yet another ACC game that the Cavs let slip through their mitts, just like an earlier home loss to Florida State in overtime, and a last-minute defeat at N.C. State. Had Virginia won either of those or beaten the Terps at the noisy Comcast Center, then let the RPI talk begin.

Leitao is hoping that the RPI doesn't slide into R.I.P. for a basketball team that could go either way over the course of the next few weeks. Meanwhile, Wahoo fans are trying to think positive.

Bracketology is almost a forgotten science around Charlottesville. But you can't blame hoops junkies for dreaming.

 

Cavs can't hold lead
Maryland overcomes UVa's fast start and claims victory with the help of a furious finish.
Doug Doughty

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Virginia played its best basketball of the season Tuesday night.

For five minutes.

The Cavaliers scored the first 13 points of the game, then spent the rest of the evening piddling away their lead in a 76-65 loss at Maryland.

The Terrapins (15-7 overall, 5-5 ACC) snapped a three-game losing streak and handed coach Gary Williams the long-anticipated 349th victory of his 17-year Maryland career, moving him past Lefty Driesell into first place on ther Terps' all-time coaching list.

"He coaches with the same energy and passion that we'd like to have in our program," first-year UVa coach Dave Leitao said.

The night was not without its agonizing moments for Williams, who watched Mike Jones attempt -- and miss -- a reverse dunk on a breakaway with Maryland leading 56-55.

Williams already had a substitute on the way to the scorers' table as Sean Singletary was hitting a 3-pointer to give UVa its last lead of the night at 58-56.

The score was tied one more time, 60-all, before Maryland scored 13 straight points.

The Terps scored on each of their last eight possessions and were 12-for-13 from the free-throw line in the second half.

Virginia (11-9, 5-5) has made a living off of its 2-3 zone defense in recent weeks, but the Terrapins' high-low game made the zone contract and repeatedly created open jump shots from the wing.

D.J. Strawberry drilled two 3-pointers during the late-game run and Jones, on furlough from Williams' doghouse, hit another trey that put the Terps ahead 65-60 with 2:30 left.

That followed a would-be, go-ahead 3-point attempt by the Cavaliers' J.R. Reynolds that rattled around the rim before bouncing out.

"That probably would have been good for us," Leitao said, "but if we weren't coming down to the other end and preventing them from scoring, he would have had to do that again and again.

"We got really stagnant [over] the last 10 minutes of the game. The assignments we were taking care of for the first 30 minutes, we just forgot about in the last 10."

Reynolds and Singletary shared UVa scoring honors with 18 points apiece, but Reynolds was 6-of-20 from the field and Singletary was 6-of-19.

Junior post man Jason Cain finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds -- his sixth double-double of the season -- but Singletary and Reynolds accounted for all but five of the Cavaliers' second-half points.

Both players finished with four fouls and Reynolds was limited to 27 minutes -- well below his 32.5-minute average. He picked up his second foul with 14:20 remaining in the first half and his fourth foul with 10:15 left in the second half.

Moments earlier, Reynolds had buried a 3-pointer to give the Cavaliers a 51-42 lead.

On the fourth foul, Reynolds was called for charging as he attempted to bring the ball up the court.

"They said I drove my shoulder into him," Reynolds said. "I didn't think it was a foul. It's hard to get into a groove when you keep coming in and out like that."

By the time Reynolds returned, Maryland had completed a 12-0 run and gone ahead 53-51. The crowd was back in the game and UVa was running out of answers.

UVa had outrebounded Maryland 26-14 in the first half and finished with a 44-37 edge, but the Terrapins controlled the boards in the second half.

Junior post man Ekene Ibekwe had a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) in the second half alone and finished with 14 and 15.

Ibekwe, who had started the first 19 games, returned to the starting lineup after being benched Sunday at North Carolina State.

"We keep telling him how good he is and what he's capable of doing," Williams said.

Strawberry had a career-high 19 points and the Terrapins had eight turnovers under his direction, compared to 16 for the Cavaliers.

 

Cavs crumble in second half
The Cavaliers start strong, but fade at the finish in a loss at Maryland.
BY MELINDA WALDROP
247-4634
February 8, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, MD. -- Sean Singletary has carried Virginia to victory more than once this season. But when his shots - and those of fellow guard J.R. Reynolds - stopped falling Tuesday night, the Cavaliers had no one else to turn to.

The balanced scoring that propelled U.Va. to a 14-point first-half lead was nowhere to be found as Virginia endured a 4-minute, 32-second stretch without a basket in the final five minutes of a 76-65 loss at Maryland.

"It's on our shoulders, the scoring," Singletary, a sophomore guard and the Cavaliers' leading scorer, said. "We didn't really keep up our end of the bargain, I don't think. We gotta put all the responsibility on our shoulders, because we're the captains. We're the leaders. We're the most talented players on the team, and that's what we've chosen to do from day one. It would be nice to have more production, but we can't expect that." And the Cavs (11-9, 5-5) didn't get it Tuesday. U.Va. raced to a 13-0 lead and led by nine with 10:32 to play, but allowed Maryland (15-7, 5-4) to score on 16 of its last 20 possessions while suffering a devastating drought of their own.

U.Va. forward Jason Cain, who had nine points and seven rebounds at halftime, scored just two second-half points. Forward Adrian Joseph, whose eight first-half points included a pair of 3-pointers, pulled a complete second-half disappearing act, going scoreless in the final 20 minutes.

After Maryland took its first lead of the game at 53-51 on Ekene Ibekwe's free throws with 7:39 to play, Singletary hit an off-the-dribble 3 with 5:18 left to return the lead to Virginia at 58-56. But that was the last bucket the Cavs scored until Singletary's 19-footer with 46 seconds to play.

U.Va.'s only points during that stretch were two free throws from Singletary that tied the game at 60. From that point on, Maryland reeled off 13 unanswered points, hitting inside looks, baseline jumpers and 3-pointers, to take control of the game.

"We didn't lose the game because (Reynolds and Singletary) spent time on the bench that they normally don't (with foul trouble)," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "I thought we lost the game because we didn't defend out of the 2-3 zone the last 10 minutes of the game like we did in the first 30."

The win snapped the Terps' three-game losing streak and made Gary Williams the program's all-time winningest coach, while giving the Cavs their third straight road loss.

But unlike trips to Duke and N.C. State, when U.Va. fell into double-digit first-half holes, the Cavs saved their scoring lapse for the final five minutes Tuesday.

"We started the game like we wanted to start it," said Reynolds, who matched Singletary with a team-high 18 points but finished 6-of-20 from the floor. "... We came out with a lot of energy. We just didn't finish the deal."

U.Va., which led by eight at halftime, took a 51-42 lead with 10:32 to play on Reynolds' 3-pointer. But after the Terps answered with a bucket, Reynolds picked up his fourth foul and headed to the bench.

Two minutes later, Singletary was whistled for his fourth foul, seconds before D.J. Strawberry's 3-pointer - part of his game- and career-high 19 points - tied the game at 51. Then, after Singletary missed a 3-point try, Mamadi Diane committed a foul on the rebound, and Ibekwe's free throws gave Maryland its first lead. After that, the Cavs hit just five baskets - including a too-little, too-late 3-pointer from Singletary with 22 seconds left - in a lackluster ending that belied their opening effort.

Joseph and Singletary began the game with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an on-fire start that propelled the Cavs to an early 14-point lead and stunned the Terps' crowd, which was completely silent during a media timeout at the 11:40 mark.

"We came out too slow, and Virginia came out very strong," said Ibekwe, who scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. " ... We came on strong, and in the second half, we were able to make our shots and get rebounds and blocks that we needed."
 

ACC benches official crew
League says FSU's Johnson did not deserve technical vs. Blue Devils
By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

The Atlantic Coast Conference acknowledged the phantom technical against Alexander Johnson, suspending the officiating crew that worked Florida State's overtime loss at No. 2 Duke on Saturday.

Edward Corbett, Raymond Natili and Mike Eades will miss their next game with the league for assessing the technical foul that resulted in Johnson's disqualification from the Seminoles' 97-96 defeat.

John Clougherty, the ACC's coordinator of men's basketball officials, announced the suspensions Monday in a release.

"The technical foul that was called on Florida State's Alexander Johnson in the second half of play should not have been assessed," the league's release said.

As he went up for a dunk, Williams was knocked to the floor on what was ruled an intention foul by Johnson with 9:23 remaining in regulation.

Once Williams regained his footing, he went straight at Johnson, lowering his right shoulder into FSU's junior center. Television replays didn't appear to show any retaliation by Johnson, who nevertheless was assessed a dead-ball technical foul along with Williams, giving him his fifth foul.

The league didn't address the fact that replays also showed bench personnel from Duke, including associate head coach Johnny Dawkins, spill onto the floor during the confrontation in an apparent attempt to defuse the situation. An unidentified manager momentarily grabbed FSU sophomore Jason Rich around the waist.

Johnson had 13 points and 11 rebounds in only 14 minutes.

With Johnson on the bench, Williams took control for the Blue Devils while avoiding his fifth foul.

Williams made the clinching free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime. He had 27 points and 13 rebounds in 37 minutes.

"They certainly took appropriate action," FSU athletic director Dave Hart said of the league's response.

Hart declined further comment, including whether the school complained about the personnel from Duke's bench running onto the court.

NCAA rules are clear on the matter.

"Any bench personnel other than the head coach who leaves the bench area when a fight may break out or has broken out shall be ejected," according to the NCAA's manual for men's and women's basketball rules and interpretations.

The NCAA also has the same rule for players.

But no direct technical fouls are supposed to be assessed as long as the players and bench personnel don't participate in the fight. So the Seminoles still wouldn't have been entitled to technical free throws.

Clougherty, who served as an NCAA official for 30 years before taking over his post at the ACC last June, didn't return messages seeking comment.

"I think I just have to let the ACC's action speak for itself," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Duke turned back FSU's upset bid by going 31 for 43 at the foul line. The Seminoles, despite outscoring the Blue Devils 64-26 in the paint, attempted just 11 free throws, making 10.

FSU power forward Al Thornton grabbed 15 rebounds and launched 32 shots in his 37-point performance but attempted only three foul shots.

Hamilton again refused to blame the officiating on FSU's loss.

"We had equal opportunity and we didn't come away with the points," Hamilton said.

Boston College coach Al Skinner wasn't as diplomatic following his team's 83-81 loss to Duke last Wednesday.

The Blue Devils attempted 37 foul shots to BC's 13. Craig Smith, the Eagles' rugged power forward, played 35 minutes before fouling out but didn't take any free throws.

"I don't understand the discrepancy," Skinner said. "You can call whatever you want against us. It's got to be the same on both ends."

An ACC crew hadn't been suspended since the league ruled that there was a game-management error late in a 62-61 victory by Duke at Virginia on Feb. 11, 1997.

A sprained knee forced Corbett to miss the final six minutes of regulation and all of overtime on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, leaving the crew shorthanded.

FSU's last chance slipped away on Todd Galloway's turnover with four seconds remaining in overtime. But replays appeared to show that the ball went out of bounds off Williams, who defended Galloway's drive in the paint.

The ACC would not disclose when the officials were next scheduled to work for the league.

 

Terps win 1 for Williams
Coach atop UM victory list as 2nd-half rally beats Cavs
By Heather A. Dinich
Sun Reporter
Originally published February 8, 2006
COLLEGE PARK // College Basketball

The seemingly improbable come-from-behind victory against Virginia last night was the easy part, he said. It was accepting his title as Maryland's winningest men's basketball coach that had the usually temperamental Gary Williams on the verge of tears.

As photographers swarmed Williams near his sideline bench before the clock expired, leaving Maryland with a 76-65 win over the Cavaliers, the weighty meaning of the Atlantic Coast Conference victory collided with his milestone, and a sense of accomplishment and tradition lingered at Comcast Center as the fans stayed to celebrate.

Senior forward Nik Caner-Medley presented Williams with the game ball at half court and told him, "You're the greatest coach in the history of Maryland."

As they gathered around Williams, the Terps players were still dripping with sweat after battling back from a 14-point first-half deficit to end a three-game losing streak.

As he addressed the media after the game, an emotional Williams choked out his words.

"It was tough ... emotions-wise at the end of the game because ... you really think how lucky ... you are," said Williams, whose 349th win surpassed Lefty Driesell on Maryland's all-time victory list. "It was tough at the end, but at the same time, I realize where I've been and how great it is to coach here."

Last night's game was all about what Maryland (15-7, 5-4 ACC) could do in the second half - not just in the second half against Virginia (11-9, 5-5), but in the second half of the ACC season.

The final stretch of eight regular-season games began last night, and the Terps desperately needed a win to retain their confidence, as well as any chance at returning to the NCAA tournament after missing it last season.

Just two days after losing to N.C. State's timely perimeter shooting, Maryland watched as Virginia opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers and shocked the Terps with a 13-0 run. Seven of those points came off second-chance baskets. A three-pointer by guard J.R. Reynolds put the Cavaliers ahead 20-6 with 14:35 left.

"It didn't look good there for a while tonight," Williams said.

He told his players to remain patient, though, and to use their defense to stay in the game. They did, as Virginia went about four minutes without scoring while the Terps used an 8-0 run to close the gap to 23-18.

It wasn't until the second half, though, that Maryland's offense caught up with its defense. Trailing 51-42 with 10:36 left, the Terps used a 9-0 run to get back in the game and, for the first time all night, make a win truly seem within reach.

Junior guard D.J. Strawberry howled at the sky and clenched his fists after his three-pointer tied the game at 51 with 8:06 remaining.

Strawberry said he pulled the Terps together when they were down by nine in the second half and told them, "We can't lose this game; we're not going to lose this game."

Said Strawberry, who led the Terps with 19 points: "Everybody sucked it up and we found a way to win the game. We went out there and we played with our hearts and everything we've got and left it out on the floor."

The effort of junior forward Ekene Ibekwe, however, might have been the biggest difference in the second half.

The game was tied at 60 with 3:09 left. Ibekwe scored four points, grabbed two rebounds and made one block in a 13-0 Terps run.

"I just knew I had a job to do," said Ibekwe, who finished with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. "I had to give it up for my teammates. We worked the middle of their zone and got a couple points off that, and we capitalized on their weaknesses."

The Terps took their first lead at 53-51 when Ibekwe made two free throws with 7:39 remaining. A three-pointer by Strawberry gave Maryland a precarious 56-55 lead, but moments later in the excitement, junior guard Mike Jones missed a reverse dunk on a breakaway, landing him on the bench - albeit briefly.

"I want the guys to dunk the ball ... but he put the extra stuff on it," Williams said. "I had to take him out, but I got him back in pretty quick. We all make mistakes, and that was a mistake."

Maryland made just three of 15 field-goal attempts in the first eight minutes of the second half, but closed the game with a 16-5 run.

"It feels great," Strawberry said. "We've kind of been down on ourselves. I felt that we played real hard at N.C. State, but Coach said we didn't get the win, so it's not good enough."

Last night, Williams got the win.

 

UVa men collpse at Maryland
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 8, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Virginia's latest trip to the Comcast Center had an all too familiar sinking feeling.
For the third straight season, the Cavaliers collapsed in the second half at Maryland, losing 76-65 on Tuesday.

Two years ago, Virginia led 49-42 early in the second half before losing by 14. Last year, the Cavaliers led 38-27 right after the break before losing by nine. Tuesday, the Cavaliers (11-9, 5-5 ACC) scored the game's first 13 points, led by 14 at one point and were even up nine with just over 10 minutes to go.

It still wasn't enough. Maryland outscored Virginia 34-14 over the last 10 minutes to win for the fifth straight time in the series. It was the third time since ACC play started that UVa has lost after leading in the second half.

"That's been our problem," said Virginia head coach Dave Leitao, whose team led late in a two-point loss at N.C. State less than a week ago. "We stopped executing. We didn't really get too many good looks the last part of the second half. And we didn't defend. ? And things they weren't doing, they started to do."

A pair of free throws by UVa guard Sean Singletary tied the game at 60 with 3:09 to play. It was all Terrapins after that. Maryland (15-7, 5-4 ACC) scored the next 13 points as Virginia failed to score on five straight possessions. The Terps cemented the win by going 12 of 13 from the free throw line in the second half.

D.J. Strawberry scored 19 points, helping Maryland overcome a sub-par performance by forward Nik Caner-Medley, who was 3 of 10 from the field for 10 points. Ekene Ibekwe had 14 points to go with 15 rebounds and Mike Jones added 15 points.

Singletary and J.R. Reynolds both scored 18 points for Virginia but combined to go 12-for-39 from the field. The Cavaliers committed 16 turnovers in the game and shot just 28.1 percent after halftime.

"It's frustrating," Singletary said. "Because even though people don't think so, we're a good enough team to win all these games. We're always in position."

Unlike recent road losses in which Virginia fell behind N.C. State 14-2 and Duke 20-2 to start the game, the Cavaliers got off to a fast start. UVa scored the game's first 13 points and raced to a 20-6 lead at the 14:33 mark on a 3-pointer by Reynolds, its best start to a game since jumping all over Liberty 18-2 in the season opener.

The Cavaliers cooled off and Maryland pulled within three on two occasions in the first half, but a Singletary 3-pointer and Mamadi Diane putback gave Virginia a 38-30 halftime lead.

"We started the game like we wanted to start it," Reynolds said. "We came out with a lot of energy, but we just didn't finish it."

Virginia went 9 of 32 from the field in the second half and didn't get much production from anyone but Singletary and Reynolds, who combined for all but five of the Cavaliers' 27 second-half points.

Forward Jason Cain finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds but scored just two points after halftime. Wing Adrian Joseph, who finished with eight points, went scoreless in the second half.

Reynolds hit a 3-pointer to put UVa up 51-42 with 10:36 to go but on the next possession was whistled for an offensive foul, his fourth. After that Maryland went on its offensive blitz, scoring on 17 of its last 21 possessions.

"We got really stagnant in the last 10 minutes of the game (on defense)," Leitao said. "The assignments that we were taking care of the first 30 minutes, we just forgot about in the last 10."

The win was Gary Williams' 349th at Maryland, moving him past legendary coach Lefty Driesell for the most wins in school history.

"It was easy coaching because the game was so hard," said Williams, who was choked up afterward. "It was tough at the end of the game because you really think about how lucky you are. ? I realize where I've been and how great it is to coach here."