In 2003-04, Maryland made the NCAA tournament with a 7-9 record in the ACC regular season. But the Terps won the ACC tournament that season.
"We might have to make something impossible possible," Vasquez said of the ACC tournament. "At least two good wins would get us back in [to the NCAAs]."
Maryland has missed the NCAA tournament three of four seasons.
Maryland built a 21-8 lead on defense and cold Virginia shooting. The Cavaliers missed 14 of their first 17 shots.
But then Virginia got hot. It hit seven of nine attempts and trailed only 27-26 at halftime.
Against Virginia's man-to-man defense, Maryland seemed to create open shots by kicking the ball inside and then back out to the three-point line. But the Terps - 10th in the ACC in three-point shooting - missed 16 of their first 18 shots from beyond the arc and were 5-for-22 overall on three-point tries.
Virginia's zone defense gave Maryland trouble.
"When they went zone, we couldn't score the last 10 minutes of the first half. We just slowed down," Vasquez said.
play it again
Keys to the game
Maryland, struggling against Virginia's zone defense, allowed the Cavaliers to go on an 11-0 run in the first half that pulled them to within 21-19. The Terps shot 5-for-22 on threes.
Did you notice
* Maryland got to the foul line only six times, making four. Virginia shot 20-for-24 on free throws.
* A sizable Maryland contingent at the arena chanted "Let's go Maryland" and "Gary, Gary."
* Cliff Tucker, Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes shot air balls from long range, but Dave Neal and Hayes hit big three-pointers to pull Maryland into a tie at 61.
Left to ponder
Would two wins in the Atlantic Coast
Conference tournament be enough to
vault the Terrapins into the NCAAs?
Jeff Barker
