Virginia stunned by Maryland 75-69 in ACC finale
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March 09, 2014
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – Maryland closed out its 61st and final Atlantic Coast Conference regular season in stunning fashion, outlasting No. 5 Virginia 75-69 in overtime Sunday to end the Cavaliers’ 13-game winning streak.
After blowing a seemingly secure lead in the closing seconds of regulation, the Terrapins never trailed in the extra session in front of an emotional sellout crowd of 17,950 at the school’s final home basketball game in a conference it joined as a charter member in 1953.
When the final buzzer sounded, thousands of fans stormed the court to celebrate another unforgettable ACC memory at the expense of one of its biggest rivals.
Seth Allen scored five of his 20 points in overtime and Dez Wells finished with 18 for the Terrapins (17-14, 9-9 ACC), who will play in the Big Ten next season. Maryland had lost six straight to Virginia, including a 61-53 decision in February that was part of the Cavaliers’ school-record winning streak against ACC competition.
Anthony Gill scored 15 points and London Perrantes had 14 for Virginia (25-6, 16-2), which had already won the regular season title and was vying to set an ACC record for most league wins during the regular season.
The end of regulation was a horror show for Maryland and the fans lining up to storm the court when victory seemed all but clinched.
After Jake Layman made two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to put the Terrapins ahead 64-61, Maryland quickly fouled. Malcolm Brogdon made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second before the Terrapins swatted the ball out of bounds with 1.7 seconds to go.
Gill caught the inbounds pass in the lane and dropped in an uncontested jumper to force overtime.
After that, however, Maryland dominated. Allen made two straight layups for a 68-64 lead, then blocked a shot before adding a free throw.
The Cavaliers used a layup by Gill to close to 71-69 with 1:13 left, but they would not score again. Despite the loss, Virginia will head into the ACC tournament as a top seed for only the second time.
Maryland opened the second half with an 11-2 run, turning a one-point deficit into a 45-37 lead.
After Wells made two free throws, Perrantes answered with a foul-line jumper. Wells then made a basket and added two foul shots before Allen popped a 3-pointer and Shaquille Cleare added a layup.
The teams combined for only two field goals over the next 5 minutes, but Virginia made five free throws during that span to close to 47-44 with 11:34 left.
Minutes later, Joe Harris hit a 3-pointer to end a 6-0 spree that put the Cavaliers in front 52-51 with 8:30 to play. Maryland went ahead 62-58 with 2:39 remaining but could not make the lead stand up.
Perrantes scored 12 first-half points on four 3-pointers, including one in the closing seconds that put the Cavaliers ahead 35-34.
As an expression of gratitude to the lone senior on the squad, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon started seldom-used forward John Auslander, who missed his only shot before being replaced with just under 4 minutes elapsed.
Virginia used an early 12-2 run to go up 14-5 before Evan Smotrycz hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and a three-point play to launch a 16-4 spurt that included seven straight points by Allen.
It was 27-22 before Perrantes drilled successive 3-pointers to reverse the momentum and calm the crowd.