CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Maryland Terrapins were hoping to bounce back from the most stunning loss of the Gary Williams era last night.
Instead, ninth-ranked Maryland got bounced out of University Hall by No. 11 Virginia, which used a 19-5 run in the second half to pave the way to a 99-78 whipping of the Terps.
The Terps (14-6), who lost their second straight game and have a two-game losing streak for the first time since going 1-2 in the season-opening Maui Invitational, finished the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule with a 5-3 record.
Donald Hand led Virginia with 20 points. Roger Mason and Chris Williams had 19 each, and Keith Friel scored 17, including five three-pointers.
Lonny Baxter led Maryland with 15 points, and Terence Morris had 14.
Maryland looked like a team still not over Saturday nights crushing, 98-96 overtime loss to Duke.
The Terps, who were back on their heels in the face of Virginia's transition game for much of the night, took their - best shot at the Cavaliers at the start of the second half by putting together a 16-5 run to slice sharply into Virginia's 12-point halftime lead.
Maryland's pressure defense produced three steals at the outset. Resulting layups by Byron Mouton and Steve Blake cut Virginia's lead to 47-40.
After a three-pointer by Chris Williams, Mouton answered with a three from the right corner, followed by Juan Dixon's two free throws, making it 50-45 with 16:45 left in the game. A layup by Dixon and a short jumper by - Mouton pulled Maryland to within 52-49.
Morris got loose on the baseline, took a feed from Blake and slammed it home to pull Maryland to within 52-51 with 13:40 to go.
And that was pretty much it for the Terps, who went down in a hail of their own missed shots and turnovers and the three-point shooting and slashing interior moves of the Cavaliers (15-4.4 4).
The 19-5 run by Virginia that -- followed giving the Cavaliers an 81-57 lead with a little more than five minutes to play, might have been a low point of the season for Maryland, which could not stop the Cavaliers inside or outside.
Friel killed the Terps early in the run with a pair of threes. Adam Hall got the crowd and the team rolling by stealing a Blake pass and throwing down a thunderous dunk for a 64-53 lead. Friels three made it 69-54 with 8:50 to go. Mason later scored eight straight points, including a three that made it 77-55 with seven minutes left.
Maryland trailed at the half for the first time this season, and the Terps, who committed 10 first-half turnovers and were behind by as many as 18 points, did good work to cut Virginia's lead at the intermission to 47-35.
By virtue of a 24-2 run, the Cavaliers turned a 24-20 Maryland lead with 9:10 left in the first half into a 44-26 Virginia advantage with 3:05 remaining.
Chris Williams and Friel led the run, which started with Williams converting a three-point play, then making two free throws. After Baxter committed a turnover, Danny Miller missed a three-point attempt for the Terps, which the Cavaliers turned into a fast break, ending with Friel's three pointer off a feed from Hand.
Suddenly, Virginia led. 28-24, and the Terps had failed to score on six consecutive possessions. Things got worse for Maryland, as Blake missed back-to-back shots, followed by a missed attempt by Mouton. A medium-range jumper by Dixon also got rejected. Meanwhile, Friel hit two more free throws, then broke wide open in the left corner, where he hit another three. A layup by Travis Watson gave the Cavaliers a 35-24 lead with 5:18 left.
Dixon finally broke the drought with an eight-foot, baseline shot over Williams, but Blake promptly followed with a turnover, sparking another fast break, ending with a slam by Mason. Virginia led, 37-26. Hand added two free throw, Watson hit a short bank shot, and Williams made a three to push the Cavaliers in front, 44-26. with 3:05 left, prompting Terps coach Gary Williams to call his third timeout during the run.
The Terps then restored some order, finishing the half with a 9-3 run. Five different players scored. Baxter, who led all scorers with 12 at the break made it 45-30 with a putback wiith 2:02 left. Dixon made a layup to cut it to 45-32. Two free throws by Blake and one by Morris in the final 42 seconds pulled the Terps to within 13 points.
The Cavaliers came out running and pressing, and bought themselves an early 10-6 lea, thanks mainly to back-to-back three-pointers by Hand and Mason in the game's opening two minutes.
With Dixon missing his first two shots and struggling to get off many shots, Maryland countered by going inside at will. Within the first six minutes, Baxter recorded three slams, two off assists from Blake. Baxter's third slam, off a feed from Miller, tied the score at 12 with 14 minutes left in the half.
Maryland seemed to solve Virginia's press and find an offensive groove after that, as Tahj Holden converted a pair of three-pointers to start and end a 12-8 run that gave Maryland a 24-20 lead.
