COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
In the first couple of minutes in the last game ever held at Cole Field House, the Virginia men's basketball team looked as if they would take the momentum from Thursday night's unbelievable win over Duke and spoil senior night for the Terrapin faithful. Unfortunately for Cavalier fans, that feeling didn't last long.
With former Terrapin greats like Len Elmore there to cheer on Maryland, seniors Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter showed why their jerseys deserved to hang beside the names of Lucas, Bias and Elmore.
Both Dixon and Baxter treated the Virginia defense like high schoolers, seemingly scoring at will against the porous Cavalier defense. Then again, so was every member of the Maryland squad as they went on to score 112 against Virginia. The Cavaliers simply played lacadaisacal on the defensive end, allowing too many opportunities under the basket. For most - well, all - of the second half, Maryland looked as if they were running a pre-game layup drill, scoring at will against the Cavaliers.
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Lately, Virginia has had absolutely no interior defense. Other than against Georgia Tech on Feb. 23rd, opposing big men have had field days on the inside. At Wake Forest, Darius Songaila went 11-for-12 from the field, scoring 30 points, while dominating the inside. At Florida State, Nigel Dixon had huge rebounds, giving the Cavaliers no inside opportunity. Recently, Duke's Carlos Boozer missed only one shot en route to 33 points. Tonight, Lonny Baxter and Chris Wilcox scored 41 points together.
Defense has been a growing concern for Pete Gillen, as he has said that if the Cavaliers want to play with the big boys they must learn to defend.
"Our offense was excellent tonight," Gilen said. "But our defense was horrible especially in the second half. We know that we can't outscore people, so we need to get a lot better before the ACC tournament."
Virginia came out fired up, starting out in a zone defense that seemed to confuse the Terrapins. But after a 20-5 Maryland run put the Terrapins up 39-24, it looked and felt as if the Cavaliers wouldn't have enough defensive stamina on senior night.
Though the Cavaliers were only down seven at the half, Steve Blake hit a three-pointer to open the second half, which would prove to be an ominous sign for the Cavaliers.
Maryland scored an amazing 69 points in the second half, outscoring Virginia by 13. Even Chris Williams, the only Cavalier who showed up to play, could not stop the Maryland tear.
The Cavaliers will have to shore up the defensive problems heading into a "probably must-win" against N.C. State in the ACC tournament this Friday. Though some analysts say the Cavaliers can get into the tournament solely because of the Duke game, it is likely that Virginia will have to get a win over the team that swept them in the regular season.
"We have to get ready to play a tough N.C. State team," Gillen said. "The players know the situation, and it is important to go down there and play hard."
If Virginia plays defense like they did in the last game at Cole Field House, the Cavaliers will stay winless in the postseason since 1995, and 0-5 in the Gillen regime.
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