Jan. 19, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

By David Ginsburg
AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and Virginia simply couldn't handle it. The result was another victory at home against the Cavaliers, who remain winless in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Nik Caner-Medley scored 26 points, leading Maryland past poor-shooting, mistake-prone Virginia 82-68 Wednesday night.

Down 49-42 with 18:18 left, the Terrapins (11-4, 2-2) rallied behind their defense. Maryland forced nine turnovers in the second half and limited Virginia to 22 percent shooting (7-for-31) while pulling away.

"Our defense was better in the second half. We were seeing where to help better," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "We were playing more team defense, and our rebounding was better. It was a good team effort."

Elton Brown scored 18 points and Devin Smith had 17 for the Cavaliers (9-6, 0-5). Both had 10 rebounds, but Brown was 4-for-18 from the floor.

"That's not good. He's got to shoot better than that," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

The Cavaliers are 1-11 at Maryland over the last 12 years. Virginia last started 0-5 in the ACC during the 1998-99 season, Gillen's first at the school.

"We were up seven, but we just got careless," Gillen said. "It's a game we could have won if we took care of the ball."

Down by five early in the second half, the Terrapins used a 14-2 spree to go up 60-53 with 12 minutes left. Caner-Medley scored the first seven points on a drive, a 3-pointer and a jumper in the lane, and center Ekene Ibekwe capped it with two baskets and a three-point play.

After Jason Cain scored for Virginia, Maryland's Mike Jones hit a 3-pointer and Ibekwe added a dunk for a 10-point cushion. But the key was the Terrapins' play on the other side of the court.

"You show how bad you want to win on the defensive side," Caner-Medley said. "If you're going to let them get easy looks, that's not getting it done."

Before the game, the Terrapins announced that sophomore guard D.J. Strawberry would be lost for the season with a torn ligament in his right knee. Strawberry, who was averaging 7 points a game, started three times this season.

Virginia also played short-handed. The Cavaliers announced Wednesday that forward Jason Clark, who started 12 games, would miss the rest of the season for academic reasons. Virginia was also without reserve center Donte Minter, who has a broken finger on his shooting hand.

"We have to get some continuity in our lineup," Gillen said. "We have some young guys in there at times, but that's no excuse. We can't have as many turnovers as we did."

Sean Singletary hit two 3-pointers to open the second half, helping Virginia take a 49-42 lead, but the Cavaliers went cold after that.

After trailing by nine points with 7:45 left in the first half, Virginia closed strong to go up 41-40 at the break.

Caner-Medley scored 15 of the Terrapins' first 31 points, but Smith had 11 in the opening 12 minutes to keep the Cavaliers close. A driving layup by Smith brought Virginia to 28-23, but Caner-Medley answered with a 3-pointer and Ekene Ibekwe sank a free throw to give Maryland its biggest lead.

Smith then made two layups and J.R. Reynolds scored five points in a 12-0 spurt that put the Cavaliers in front 35-31.