March 9, 2003

By HANK KURZ Jr.

AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Travis Watson had 26 points and 15 rebounds in what may have been his last home game at Virginia and the Cavaliers stunned No. 13 Maryland 80-78 in overtime Sunday night.

Virginia (15-14, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a seven-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, and swept the Terrapins to avoid playing in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 play-in game at the ACC tournament.

Maryland (19-8, 11-5) had a chance to tie with 3.7 seconds left, but Steve Blake's desperate heave from the corner was off the mark and Ryan Randle's rebound and putback bounced on the rim before dropping off.

Drew Nicholas had 27 points for Maryland, which clinched the second seed in the ACC tournament despite the loss because Duke lost earlier in the day to North Carolina.

Virginia took a five-point lead in overtime before Jamar Smith hit a free throw for Maryland and Blake hit a 3-pointer, only his second field goal of the game, to pull the Terrapins within 79-78 with 1:16 remaining.

After both teams missed, Elton Brown missed two free throws for Virginia with 18.9 seconds left, but Drew Nicholas' 3-pointer rimmed out and Watson's 15th rebound put him on the line for two shots.

He missed the first, but made the second. The Terps then threw the ball the length of the court, where Blake gathered it and flung it toward the hoop. Randle was there, but his putback lingered and didn't fall.

Virginia heads into the ACC tournament as the No. 6 seed and having saved its chance of finishing with the .500 winning percentage necessary to an invitation to the NIT.

The Terrapins used a 15-8 run to pull even at 66-all with 3:54 to play. Watson then hit four free throws around two by Tahj Holden for the Terps, and Blake made his first basket of the game a dramatic one - a 3-pointer that gave the Terrapins a 71-70 with 1:26 remaining.

Todd Billet, who had 18 points, answered with his sixth 3-pointer and fourth of the half to give the Cavaliers a two-point lead, but Randle took a feed from Blake under the basket for a game-tying dunk with 29.2 seconds left.

It was Blake's 10th assist of the game.

That the Cavaliers were in the game at all was remarkable, considering they had 12 turnovers by halftime and two on their first two possessions of the second half, fueling a 7-0 Maryland run and a 40-38 Terps lead.

But the Cavaliers also kept making big plays, including three 3-pointers by Billet in a span of 4:27 of the second half, and a 5-point scoring run by Watson that gave Virginia a 58-51 lead with 10:40 left.

The Cavaliers led 38-33 after a first half that was basically a love-in for seldom-used senior center-forward Jason Rogers of the Cavaliers.

The 6-foot-11 Rogers started, as is the tradition at Virginia on Senior Night, and scored the Cavaliers' second basket on a baby hook and made it look like Gillen had erred by not playing him more during his career.

By halftime, Rogers had a career-high 10 points, had matched his career-best with five rebounds and had three blocks, all of which prompted chants of "Jason Rogers" from the crowd. One of his baskets was a flying one-handed dunk that brought the crowd to its feet in near hysteria. He finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Before Sunday, Rogers had played all of 14 minutes in nine games this season, and a total of just 151 minutes in 49 games over four years.