The Grounds

Team Notes

• The Cavaliers clinch the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament with the win, getting a first-round bye
• Virginia trailed by 17 points in the first half, the largest comeback since trailing by 19 vs. Arizona and rallying for a 93-90 win in the first game at John Paul Jones Arena (Nov. 12, 2006)
• It is the fifth-largest comeback in school history
• The 13-point halftime deficit overcome in a win is tied for the fourth-largest in school history (down 13 vs. Arizona on Nov. 12, 2006)
• The Cavaliers conclude the ACC season with a 9-0 home record, marking the fourth time in school history they have gone undefeated at home through the ACC (1981, 1982, 2007)
• The Cavaliers extended their home winning streak to 17 games (JPJA record), their longest home winning streak since the school-record 34 game home winning streak (1980-83)
• Virginia’s 18 home wins this season (18-1) are a school record, breaking the previous mark of 16 set in 2006-07 (first year of JPJA, 16-1)
• Virginia swept the season series vs. Maryland for the second straight season
• The Cavaliers have won five straight games against the Terrapins
• Virginia’s 11 ACC wins marks the most for UVa since 11 in 2006-07
• First overtime game of the season for Virginia
• Second consecutive year that the regular season finale vs. Maryland went to OT
• Virginia improves to 3-4 all-time in overtime games at JPJA

Player Notes

• Akil Mitchell (17 pts, 10 rebs) had his 11th double-double of the season (12th in career)
• Joe Harris (15 pts) scored in double figures for the 28th time this season
• Mitchell scored in double figures for the 24th time this season
• Mike Tobey (13 pts) scored in double figures for the seventh time this season
• Tobey scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career

Player Career Highs

• Justin Anderson had a career-high five blocked shots

John Paul Jones Arena Records

• Justin Anderson tied a Virginia JPJA record with five blocks (Assane Sene vs. Hampton, 12/23/09)

Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon

Opening remarks:
“Obviously, I’m proud of my group. We made a great effort tonight and it’s a tough place to play. We came out ready to play and built a big lead. We knew they were going to come back on us and they did. In the end we just couldn’t get enough stops, made a mistake on [Joe] Harris late, gave him a wide-open three when they tied it. That was just really bad defense. We just didn’t show on the screen. And then we just couldn’t make enough plays. We had the ball around the rim; we had their guys beat. They blocked a lot of our shots. We just couldn’t make enough plays, but our effort was there.”

On the last play of the second half:
“I’m 99% sure of what happened. We didn’t want [Joe] Harris to catch it. Jake Layman did a great job because he didn’t catch it. They threw it in, my guy tried to steal it, and let him [Mike Tobey] in for a layup – not very smart.”

On frustrations after many opportunities around the basket:
“We’re not capable of doing it. You just can’t fault our effort. You get to the rim and we can’t finish around the rim. We had a chance for second-chance buckets and just couldn’t do it. We missed a lot of shots, but even though we shot 32 percent and only scored 58 points in 45 minutes, it felt like we had control offensively. It never felt like we were being dictated by them, which is hard to do in this building.”

On his team:
“We’re a young basketball team. We played well tonight and we played smarter tonight. We played with effort. If we had played with this effort on Wednesday night, we would have had a different outcome.”

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On play to Mike Tobey at end of regulation:
“It’s got actually three options. We checked on the first one. It wasn’t there. The second one wasn’t there. He’s the third option, just kind of like a quarterback. Justin [Anderson], I thought, made a terrific pass.”

“They [Maryland] played it a certain way to take away the corner three, so that opened up a position. He sealed it, and certainly had the touch to make it, so no question it was a big play by both of those guys to make a pass and catch it.”

On second half play:
“When you’re down as many as we were, when you shoot the ball the way we were, missing free throws, and just struggling, giving up things, we just had to crawl back possession by possession. We got off to an okay start at the beginning on the second half, then lost our way. Either you’re going to go inside and play inside-out basketball, you’re going to be tough-minded and make it hard on them to score, or this thing’s over.”

“Maryland’s talented. They’re very talented. They had a good game plan. They drew something that they haven’t shown, that 1-3-1. They came down the floor and kind of caught us on our heels. But, we adjusted. We were very fortunate to get the win. I’m no dummy on that one, but guys did step up and make plays, and we got some stops.”

On Justin Anderson’s play:
“We needed that because sometimes, you know, we haven’t done a great job the last three games I would say of containing the dribble. We’re not the most athletic on the perimeter. Guys seem like they’re able to get by us, and get in the lane. When you can make plays like Justin can and cover up a breakdown, and come out of nowhere and block a shot, either his own man or a guy who breaks down or comes across the middle, those are huge plays.”

On Joe Harris:
“He was struggling early. He got to the line and shot just out of sorts. But he battled. You’ll never question Joe’s warrior mentality, how hard he’s going to go, what’s he’s going to do. You’re going to have off shooting games. I think that maybe he was pressing a little bit the last two games. But, if you’re struggling to shoot the ball, you’ve got to help your team if you’re one of the best players on the team in other ways. I thought that he kind of came to that, and was much better, in spite of the poor shooting. “

Virginia Freshman Forward/Center Mike Tobey

On the first half deficit:
“We came out kind of flat and they built a big lead on us. But we talked about coming back possession-by-possession. There’s no such thing as a 13-point play, so we just had to work our way back and that’s what we did.”

On winning a close game:
“We needed this win. The last two games have been close, come down to the wire, and we couldn’t pull it out in the end. So, this was a great gutsy win for us and it’s going to help us with momentum going forward.”

On having a bye in the ACC Tournament:
“A bye is definitely important for us. We get more rest time and more time to prepare. It’s a good thing to be seeded fourth instead of fifth.”

Virginia Junior Forward Akil Mitchell

On coming back:
“They jumped out to a big lead and we needed to claw our way back. We haven’t really been in a situation like that all year. Our coaches did a good job of calming us down and letting us know that it was a possession at a time.”

On Justin Anderson’s 3-pointer to end the first half:
“I think it was boost to the team just to see something go in the basket right before halftime. The difference between 16 and 13 points is a big difference just for morale and momentum, even if it was just a little bit that was all we needed.”

Virginia Junior Guard Joe Harris

On his poor shooting:
“I don’t know when the last time I had a night like that was. Even though I wasn’t shooting the ball well, in the back of my mind I still had a lot of confidence thinking that the next one I shot was going in. I hit a little bit of a rough patch there, but everybody is so optimistic, encouraging each other to keep shooting the ball. It’s hard to get down on yourself.”

On hitting a 3-point shot to tie the game late:
“I was happy we were back in the game, and finally in a position where I thought we had a shot at winning down the stretch. I was happy we were able to come back and that I finally got one to go.”