No. 22 Cavaliers snap slide with super second half

Akil Mitchell felt Virginia wasn’t in a “must-win” situation heading into Saturday’s game with Maryland. Sammy Zeglinski danced around the subject.

UVa coach Tony Bennett, however, seemed to answer the question definitively following his team’s 71-44 victory over Maryland in front of a sold-out crowd at John Paul Jones Arena.

“We knew we would have to ratchet it up or just turn up the volume a little bit more in terms of the intensity from start to finish,” Bennett said. “There just wasn’t an option.”

Virginia, led by yet another outstanding performance from Mike Scott, used a 16-0 run early in the second half to crush the Terps and snap an ugly two-game losing streak that had Wahoo Nation fretting about its NCAA Tournament chances.

“It was definitely a bounce-back game for us,” said Mitchell, who had a career-high 10 rebounds. “We knew we had to get our intensity, our passion, our energy back. I think we had kind of lacked that the last few games.”

With the win, No. 22 UVa (20-6, 7-5) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2007 — the last time the program qualified for the tournament.

Virginia has four games remaining in the regular season, starting with a visit to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech on Tuesday night. A common belief is that it will take at least two more wins, plus a win in the ACC Tournament for UVa to go dancing. However, Virginia players swear they’re not thinking about any of that.

“We just focus on every game,” said Zeglinski, when asked how many wins he thought it would be necessary to make the Big Dance. “We know everybody’s playing for something at this point in the season.

“We just have to keep going out there every night and playing Virginia basketball because we know every game from here on out is important for our [NCAA] resume and for the ACC seeding in the tournament.”

Zeglinski supplemented Scott’s scoring with 11 points, which included two 3-pointers — his first multiple 3-pointer game in his last six outings.

Malcolm Brogdon was Virginia’s other double-digit scorer — the freshman had 14 points on an impressive 5 of 6 shooting.

UVa held Maryland to just 13 second-half points, which tied the record for fewest points in a half in JPJ history.

Maryland (15-11, 5-7) took a 33-31 lead eight seconds into the second half after a dunk by James Padgett. But then the Cavaliers, behind Scott, Zeglinski and Joe Harris, outscored Maryland 16-0 over the next eight-plus minutes to take a 47-33 lead.

“We had a two-point lead in the second half,” lamented first-year Maryland coach Mark Turgeon, “and then it was all them, total domination.”

Harris, who was playing for the second straight game with protective padding on his fractured left hand, started and ended the onslaught with jumpers. In the middle of the run were two hoops from Scott — including a 3-point play — and a jumper by the previously slumping Zeglinski that had a capacity crowd roaring with delight.

“I think when you’re at home, we knew we’d have the energy of the crowd — and they were terrific,” Bennett said. “They really got behind us and I think the guys fed off that.”

During the spurt, Virginia completely locked Maryland’s offense down. UVa made the Terrapins take tough shots and forced them into four turnovers.

It was a stark contrast from the end of the first half when Virginia had let Maryland climb back into the game.

In the first half, Virginia shot 50 percent, held Maryland to 32 percent and led by as many as nine. However, the Wahoos went into the locker room tied due to an inability to defend the 3-point line. Maryland’s Terrell Stoglin, the ACC’s leading scorer, hit four triples.

Stoglin, though, was held scoreless on 0 of 7 shooting after the break.

“With a great scorer, you have to make them earn it,” Bennett said. “You can’t give him easy ones and I don’t think he had any easy ones tonight that I can recall. The ones he made he had a hand in his face.”

Dunks

Scott’s 25 points were an ACC career-high...Virginia held Maryland to just five second-half field goals and 27 percent shooting for the game...A game after committing 18 turnovers against Clemson, Virginia had just seven...Freshman Paul Jesperson knocked down a late 3-pointer. It was his first 3 in his last nine games. He’s now 4 of 21 on the season.