Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

Virginia (10-6, 2-2) nearly blew a 20 point first half lead, but held on to earn another quality win and improve their conference record to 2-2. The Cavaliers were led by Mamadi Diane with a career high 26 points, and a parade of free throw shooting by Reynolds and Singletary, who finished a combined 23 of 26 from the line. Maryland (15-4, 1-3) had a chance to build on a solid win versus Clemson, but now faces an uphill battle in conference play.

The high score in this game was indicative of a fast paced game (91 total possessions), which contributed to some of the sloppy play. The teams combined for 39 turnovers and were evenly split with Virginia committing 20 and Maryland committing 19. However, the pace probably favored Virginia's backcourt and helped to minimize the inside play of Gist and Ibekwe.

Though Gist (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Ibekwe (17 points, 14 rebounds) had decent games on the stat sheet, Virginia was able to rebound a very respectable 47 percent of its offensive rebound opportunities. Cain and Mikalauskas led the way on the boards with five and four offensive rebounds, respectively. Cain had an excellent overall game with 13 points, 16 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots.

The difference in the game was the way in which Reynolds (17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and Singletary (25 points, 7 assists) were able to get to the line consistently and convert the opportunities. The 39 made free throws were the reason Virginia averaged 1.12 points per possession, versus 1.0 for Maryland.

Maryland had all five starters in double figures, but could never quite regain control after falling behind by 20 in the first half. The Terrapins have their work cut out for them in conference play and face Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech in the next week. Gary Williams needs to turn this around or the Terrapins will have a huge hole to climb out of.

In contrast, Virginia is in good shape, showing the ability to win on the home court. The Cavaliers face Wake and NC State, both winnable games, before meeting Clemson and Duke. Virginia has the ability to go 3-1 over this stretch. A NCAA Tournament-bound team would find a way to make that happen.