By Brandon Walker for Urban Media Today
College Park, MD—In another chapter of a rivalry between old ACC rivals, Sam Lewis scored a game-high 28, and Thijs De Ridder added 20 as the sixth-ranked Virginia came back from a second-half deficit to defeat Maryland 87-83 on Friday night at the XFINITY Center.
Robert Jennings scored Maryland’s first basket, followed by Thijs Le Ridder coming back for a three-point play as the teams held to a defensive struggle at the first media timeout, with Virginia up 5-4. The teams held steady as Sam Lewis recorded a cutback dunk, answered by baskets from freshmen Baba Olatundun and Kaden House as Maryland maintained a two-point lead going into the next media timeout. A Kalu Anya basket kept the score close; however, Virginia couldn’t sustain momentum due to early turnovers. House scored again to put Maryland up five, but Lewis answered.
Pharrell Payne continued to score in the low post throughout the first half, but Chance Mallory hit a pull-up jumper to keep UVA within reach. Maryland continued to force the action by making the extra pass on offense and hustling to the ball, and a thunderous dunk by Mills right before halftime sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy as they held an 11-point advantage, 47-36.
The key difference in the first half was Maryland scoring 13 points off turnovers compared to Virginia’s two.
After Virginia closed the gap with a basket by Mallory, DJ Wagner’s layup put Maryland up 53-46. Payne continued to pound the ball in the low post to get buckets to keep Maryland’s lead. Mike McNair hit a three-pointer to put Maryland up by 10. Two baskets by Lewis and a dunk by De Ridder cut the Virginia deficit to three at the 10:25 mark of the second half. Two McNair free throws snapped a UVA 9-0 run, and Wagner’s driving layup ended a five-minute field-goal drought.
Virginia tied the game with Johann Grunloh and took the lead with a Mallory three-pointer. A Lewis dunk and a De Ridder driving layup put Virginia up 76-72. House added a three-point play to put Maryland within one, but Lewis and De Ridder each got points on turnovers, and De Ridder put the game out of reach with a three-pointer.
Maryland shot 2-for-9 from three-point range in the second half and 38 percent from the field, compared to 76.9 percent in the first half. Virginia Head coach Ryan Odom said they adjusted by exercising better shot selection at halftime.
“We needed to be more aggressive on offense,” Odom said. “In the first half, the person who dribbled the ball across halfcourt shot it most times—and that’s not Virginia basketball. In the second half, we encouraged the guys to play with each other more, and we put them in some sets that let their skills take over.”
Grunroh added 15 points for UVA, while Mallory had 12 for the visitors, and Payne led Maryland with 20, followed by House with 17; McNair added 15 for Maryland, which has dropped games to two local rivals in less than one week.
Buzz Williams spoke about problems that have persisted over the past two games: Georgetown’s three-point shooting and Virginia’s shooting inside, especially in the second half. He said that he has to get in the film room and the practice court to fix it.
“You can’t just wait till game day to do it.” You have to do it every day,” Williams said in his post-game news conference. “I would say that all coaches would say that their capacity and their stamina have to increase through two weeks. And that can’t just happen on game day. That has to happen in the film room. That has to happen in how you do your individuals. And that has to happen in how you practice.”
Maryland will stay at home to play Alcorn State on Monday, while Virginia will host Old Dominion on Tuesday.
_______________________________________
You can follow Brandon on all social media platforms: @bwalkerdadon