The University of Virginia hoops team was sliced apart by an enthusiastic Maryland team 85-66 Monday evening in College Park. The Hoos were down 34-52 at the break, and Maryland never looked back. They truly beat Virginia in every single aspect of the game, and had much more effort and energy throughout the contest. Coach Bennett really seemed to struggle with finding a line-up that just might work tonight.
Sharp-shooting All-ACC guard Greivis Vasquez (30 points) lived up to the hype, scoring at will for the first 30 minutes or so. The Terps also had three other players finish with double figures (Milbourne, Hayes, Williams). Maryland shot 56 percent from the field and a very nice 44 percent from three-point-land.
The Hoos never got into any sort of rhythm as they played their worst game of the Tony Bennett era tonight. There was no sense of urgency offensively or defensively. Virginia shot 22-58 for a paltry 38 percent from the field and an anemic 13 percent from behind the arc. Landesberg was way off his team-leading scoring mark as he had only 12 points, and most of those were in the first half. Mike Scott and Jeff Jones each added 16 for Virginia. Sammy Zeglinski had a big goose egg as he did not even get to the free-throw line. And zero points from the field for Meyinsse as he only added two points from the line.
Virginia put the final nail in the coffin on their chances of making the NCAA Tournament tonight in front of more than 17,000 delighted Terrapins fans. This game will be one to get past quickly for Tony Bennett’s crew as the season continues Wednesday night at the JPJ in Charlottesville against the mighty athletic Seminole’s from Florida State. Is it baseball/lax season yet? Go Hoos!
