U.Va. juniors play spoiler vs. Maryland
Sammy Zeglinski and Assane Sene are Virginia’s odd couple. Zeglinski is 6-foot-1 and grew up in Philadelphia. Sene is 7-foot and was raised in Senegal.
Saturday at Comcast Center, however, the juniors had plenty in common as they propelled Virginia to a 74-60 victory over Maryland, ruining the final home game for Terrapins’ seniors Dino Gregory, Adrian Bowie, and Cliff Tucker.
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With Zeglinski (25 points) hitting six 3-pointers and scoring his career high, and Sene (15 points) cleaning up inside, normally punchless Virginia (16-14, 7-9) had a complete attack. The juniors, averaging a combined 11.4 points per game, hit 14 of 20 shots, including 6 of 7 by Zeglinski from 3-point range.
“Different guys stepped up,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “With Sammy knocking down shots like that and Assane giving us 15 points, it was really the difference.”
| Up next |
| ACC Tournament |
| When » Thursday, TBA |
| Where » Greensboro Coliseum |
| TV » ACC Network or ESPN2 |
| Radio » 980 AM |
| If Miami wins Sunday at Georgia Tech, Maryland would get the No. 8 seed in the ACC tournament and would play No. 9 Virginia. If Miami falls, Maryland will be the No. 7 seed and would play either Miami or North Carolina State. The Wolfpack would grab the No. 9 seed with a win Sunday against Florida State, coupled with a Miami loss. |
| No team has won four games in the ACC tournament since the league expanded beyond eight teams in 1991-92. N.C. State (1997, 2007) and Georgia Tech (2010) are the only teams that have won three games to reach the finals. |
| Maryland last won the tournament in 2004, beating Duke in Greensboro behind MVP John Gilchrist. |
At the end, Virginia senior Mustapha Farrakhan (19 points) finished off the Terps, scoring 11 of his points in the final 9 minutes. Farrakhan’s play steadied Virginia after Maryland went on an 8-0 run to make it 63-58.
Farrakhan made the game’s biggest basket, answering a score by Jordan Williams (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 blocks) with a fast-break layup, which drew a foul. His free throw put the Cavaliers up 68-60 with 2:23 left.
“We didn’t play with the energy and emotion necessary to win in this league,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said.
It was a tale of teams going in opposite directions. While Virginia won for the fifth time in six games, Maryland (18-13, 7-9) closed the regular season with four losses in its last six. Both will play Thursday in the opening round of the conference tournament.
Maryland will have to bring more fire to Greensboro. Despite pressing most of the way, the Terps forced just six turnovers on Saturday, one coming in the closing seconds when Zeglinski flung the ball to the rafters in celebration.
“Yeah it is alarming,” Gary Williams said. “In basketball you can intimidate the other teams, not physically, but just by your effort and your body language. We just weren’t that type of team today.”
In Maryland’s 66-42 win in Charlottesville in January, the Terps forced 15 turnovers, which produced 17 points. On Saturday, however, Maryland failed to score off a turnover.
“We really prepared on breaking the press,” Virginia senior forward Will Sherrill (9 rebounds) said. “Coach put seven guys on defense and we had five. With seven-on-five pressing us, we had to attack and move hard. That preparation made breaking their press a lot easier.”
At halftime new Maryland football coach Randy Edsall grabbed a microphone and scolded fans for their lack of volume in the first half. The crowd of 17,495 didn’t have much to cheer about until Maryland’s late 8-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer by Tucker (5 points).
The Terps had their chances to cut the lead further, but Williams missed a dunk and freshman guard Pe’Shon Howard (4 points, 6 assists) missed a layup.
After averaging 20.6 points in his previous seven game, Terps freshman point guard Terrell Stoglin was held to nine by Zeglinski.
“There was a point in the second half when coach Williams said, ‘We’re gonna spread them out and try to beat us off the dribble,’” Bennett said. “We did a nice job containing [Stoglin] and making him earn.”
Stoglin started strong, scoring seven points in the first 12 minutes, helping stake Maryland to an 18-15 lead. But Virginia followed with a 14-5 run, which Zeglinski started and finished with 3-pointers, giving the Cavaliers a 29-23 lead, which they never surrendered.
Early in the second half, a driving 3-point play by Bowie (5 points, 4 rebounds) pulled the Terps close, 44-40. But Virginia responded with a seven-point run, again ignited by a 3-pointer from Zeglinski.
“He was really flying off the screens,” said Bennett. “We were nailing some screens early and really stirring the pot. Sammy was getting his feet set and you could see he was hitting his rhythm.”
