COLLEGE PARK, Md. _ The inexperience and potential of the Maryland men's basketball team was on full display Wednesday night against No. 4 Virginia in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Playing before the season's first announced sellout crowd at Xfinity Center, the young Terps fell behind by nine at halftime and by 17 in the second half. They seemed impatient and a bit overmatched.
Making a spirited comeback _ helped by some foul trouble for Virginia _ No. 24 Maryland cut its deficit to four before losing, 76-71.
Junior guard Kyle Guy led Virginia (7-0) with 18 points, including 15 in the first half, while shooting 5-for-9 on 3-pointers (4-for-7 in the first half). Junior guard Ty Jerome finished with 17 points and redshirt freshman forward De'Andre Hunter scored 15.
After a slow start, junior guard Anthony Cowan Jr. led Maryland (6-1) with 15 points. Sophomore center Bruno Fernando finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Freshmen Aaron Wiggins and Eric Ayala each scored 13.
The loss was Maryland's first of the season and fifth straight in the ACC-Big Challenge. Still, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon can take some positives out of it going into Saturday's Big Ten opener at home against Penn State.
Trailing 39-30 at halftime, the Terps seemed sluggish coming out of the locker room, scoring just one free throw on their first four possessions as the Cavaliers opened a 9-1 run to increase their lead to 17.
After Turgeon called timeout, Wiggins and Ayala hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit back to 11 as the large crowd seemed hopeful of a comeback. The fans were quieted by Jerome's floater.
The Terps eventually cut their deficit down to eight, 54-46, on a pull-up jumper in the lane by sophomore guard Darryl Morsell (Mount Saint Joseph), and with the Cavaliers picking up their 10th team foul with a little over 10 minutes left, Maryland had a chance to get back in the game.
A layup by Cowan with a little over four minutes left cut the deficit to four, but Virginia center Jack Salt had the first of two key follow-up dunks.
A 3-pointer by Wiggins cut the lead to four points in the final minutes, but reserve forward Braxton Key sealed the game with three free throws in the final 30 seconds.
Maryland committed 14 turnovers to only two for Virginia.
