Dallin Hall made all eight of his shots and scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as No. 23 Virginia overcame a poor start to pull away from Maryland in an 80-72 victory Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Jacari White contributed 12 of his 15 points after intermission as the Cavaliers (10-1) earned their fifth straight victory.
Showing rust in the first half after a 10-day break, Virginia missed 18 of 19 shots during one stretch and fell behind by eight points before finding its touch.
After shooting 27.3% and missing 8 of 9 3-pointers in the first half, the Cavaliers rebounded on 63.6% shooting after the break, making 6 of 11 (54.5%) attempts from deep.
Virginia excelled on the defensive end, causing 19 turnovers and limiting the Terrapins to 40.7 percent shooting.
Chance Mallory led the Cavaliers defense with five interceptions. He also had six points and six assists off the Virginia bench.
David Coit scored all 15 of his points in the second half to set the tone for Maryland (6-6), which lost for the fifth time in its last six games, with four of the losses coming against ranked teams.
The Terrapins were without leading scorer and rebounder Pharrel Payne, who was sidelined with a leg injury.
After scoring the first seven points of the game, Virginia went cold. For nearly 12 minutes, the Cavaliers managed just one field goal, allowing the Terrapins to go on a 19-4 run.
Myles Rice (12 points) sparked the surge with a jumper and a 3-pointer. Solomon Washington (nine points, 12 rebounds) added six points in the frenzy, which gave Maryland a 19-11 lead.
But in the final 3:42 of the first half, Virginia scored 13 straight points. Devin Tillis (10 points) ended the Cavaliers’ drought with a jumper and added another basket.
Johann Grunloh added two dunks in the run, including a putback at the buzzer, that gave Virginia a 24-19 lead at the break.
Maryland regained the lead on one occasion in the second half as Coit made two free throws to make it 35-33 with 14:43 left.
The Cavaliers responded with a 15-2 run highlighted by White as he made a pair of 3-pointers and a sensational slam. passing end-to-end through the Terrapins defense.
That burst put Virginia up 48-37 with 11:08 left. The lead was never less than six points until the end.
– Field level media
