For a second straight weekend, Maryland men’s basketball showed flashes of elite play against a ranked opponent. But once again, those flashes were short-lived — and not enough for a win.
On the road Saturday at No. 23 Virginia, the Terps led by eight points in the first half. But the Cavaliers embarked on a 17-point run that bled into the second half.
Heroics by Diggy Coit helped erase Virginia’s nine-point advantage, but only temporarily. The Cavaliers exploded down the stretch, and a thunderous
poster dunk by Jacari White over Solomon Washington with 11:50 left sucked Maryland’s energy away.
Despite an off day from star 22-year-old freshman Thijs De Ridder, Virginia cruised to an 80-72 victory at John Paul Jones Arena that didn’t feel as close as an eight-point win. The Terps are now 6-4 in nonconference play, with only Old Dominion remaining.
Myles Rice re-entered the starting lineup Saturday. After Virginia opened the game on an ugly 7-0 run, he rewarded head coach Buzz Williams’ faith in him with an offensive spark.
First, the Indiana transfer found space off the dribble and sank a midrange jumper. Then, he hustled in transition to get open on the wing and drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 7-5.
Virginia entered Saturday top-50 in the country in points per game (87.1). But it was uncharacteristically inefficient early. It dominated the boards — seven minutes in, the Cavaliers had six offensive rebounds while Maryland had four total — but only turned those into two second-chance points.
They didn’t get to the line in the opening 10 minutes, either.
The Terps weren’t much better. They finally clawed back the lead courtesy of a Darius Adams baseline jumper with 10:07 until halftime.
Maryland has been a free throw team all season, and an undisciplined first half by Virginia sent it into the bonus with nine minutes left in the half — and double-bonus with 6:37 remaining.
But in that nine-minute stretch, the Terps went to the line just four times.
With Virginia embarking on a 1-of-19 shooting drought that lasted nearly 12 minutes, Maryland finished the half on an all-too-familiar 2-of-12 stretch of its own — and could only build up to as much as an eight-point lead.
That wasn’t enough against an offense as talented as Virginia’s.
Devin Tillis broke the Cavaliers’ spell with 3:42 left in the half. Three straight Maryland turnovers resulted in eight straight Virginia points, topped off with a thunderous alley-oop thrown down by 7-foot, 20-year-old freshman center Johann Grünloh. In the blink of an eye, the Terps’ lead was gone.
Last-minute baskets by Grünloh and guard Sam Lewis sent Virginia to the locker room with a 24-19 advantage, less than four minutes after it trailed by eight.
The Cavaliers’ 11-point run became a 17-point one less than a minute into the second half.
Coit was held scoreless in the first half, but exploded for three straight baskets to kick off a run that ended with Maryland holding a two-point lead. It lasted for just 14 seconds, though, and was the final time Virginia trailed.
The Terps’ 22-of-54 shooting performance on the night looked much more like its season-long average than its output against Michigan. Coit led the team with just 15 points — indicative of Maryland’s lack of a dominant offensive presence as long as Pharrel Payne is sidelined.
Three things to know
1. Maryland hasn’t shaken the turnover bug. The Terps entered Saturday aiming to cut down their turnover volume, having given up a combined 30 against Iowa and Michigan. They did exactly the opposite, turning it over 19 times. The majority of them were live-ball giveaways, and Virginia capitalized to the tune of 22 points.
2. Saunders struggled in return to Charlottesville. Saunders spent the 2024-25 season at Virginia before coming to College Park for his senior year. His performance was always going to be an X-factor for Maryland — and accordingly, his struggles limited the team, particularly on offense.
Saunders didn’t score in the first half, and 10 second-half points wasn’t enough to salvage anything.
3. Adjustments without Payne. George Turkson Jr. earned his second straight start, and Saunders re-entered the starting lineup with Payne sidelined with an injury. Turkson was even more of a non-factor than Saunders, with just one point and five rebounds in 26 minutes.
Washington led the team with 36 minutes on the court. One of Saunders and Turkson was active with him at virtually all times. But the depth behind them wasn’t exercised at all — Collin Metcalf played just six minutes and 6-foot-10 freshman Aleks Alston didn’t enter the game.
