Sean Mosley walked off the court at Maryland for the final time with his head held high, even though the Terrapins had just lost 75-72 in overtime to No. 24 Virginia.
Sometimes, there's honor playing well in defeat.
Terrell Stoglin scored 25 points, Mosley had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Maryland (16-14, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) erased a 12-point deficit over the final 8 minutes to force overtime Sunday. But it wasn't enough to overcome the heroics of Virginia's Mike Scott, who had a career-high 35 points along with 11 rebounds.
''There's something about that loss, it really hurt,'' said Mosley, a standout guard who was honored before the game on Senior Day. ''But at the end of the day we fought hard, and that's all I could ask for.''
Virginia led 57-49 with 5:51 remaining before two free throws by Stoglin and baskets by Nick Faust and James Padgett made it 57-55. Scott blunted the surge with a basket, but a drive by Stoglin and a free throw by Padgett got the Terps within a point.
After Sammy Zeglinski hit a jumper for Virginia with 13 seconds go to, Stoglin drilled a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left to tie it at 61.
Stoglin had a chance to win it at the end of regulation, but his 35-foot shot clanged off the front of the rim.
''He had a good look. It was right on the line,'' Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said.
In overtime, Scott scored half of Virginia's 14 points.
The good news for Mosley is that it isn't his final game. Maryland has the opportunity to shine this week in the ACC tournament.
''There's still a lot of basketball to be played,'' he said. ''We've got to try to do our best down there and win some games, and hopefully win the whole thing.''
Scott, a 6-foot-8 senior, had never scored more than 28 points in an ACC game. His heroics came on the heels of the Cavaliers' collapse against Florida State, when an 11-point lead with 5 minutes left turned into a 63-60 defeat.
''I think (against) Florida State, the last 4 minutes I didn't assert myself,'' Scott said. ''I just told my teammates, `Get me the ball.' I was just trying to win.''
The victory gave Virginia (22-8, 9-7) its most regular-season wins since the Ralph Sampson-led team had 25 in 1982-83. The Cavaliers finished in fourth place in the ACC and will receive a first-round bye in this week's conference tournament.
''It's huge. We knew what we were playing for coming in,'' said Zeglinski, who scored 20 points. ''We really wanted that first-round bye. We're just really happy to get out of here with the `W.'''
Combined with a 71-44 rout of Maryland on Feb. 18, the Cavaliers completed their first sweep of the Terrapins since 2007.
The Terps shot 40 percent from the field, went 14 for 26 at the free throw line and committed 21 fouls.
''We just didn't shoot the ball well at times and fouled too much,'' Turgeon said. ''But what it really comes down to is Mike Scott. He was the best player on the floor. He made play after play after play. We tried to double him, so he just stepped out farther and just kept making plays.''
Successive baskets by Scott in overtime gave the Cavaliers a 69-63 lead. After Maryland closed to 69-67, Jontel Evans made a layup for Virginia and Joe Harris added two free throws to secure the win.
Earlier, it didn't seem possible that the Terrapins would end up pushing the game into overtime. Virginia led 40-35 when Turgeon was called for a technical foul.
''Unfortunately, I felt like I had to act like a madman just to get us going,'' Turgeon said.
Scott made one of the two free throws, but Mosley answered with two foul shots and a 3-pointer to make it 41-40, the closest Maryland got to the lead since it was 5-4.
Following a Virginia timeout, Zeglinski connected from beyond the arc and Scott scored four points at the line to launch a 12-1 run that put the Cavaliers ahead 53-41 with 8:11 remaining.
The lead would not stand up.
''We're going to be all right,'' Stoglin said. ''We're going to go into practice, work hard and we'll be ready for the tournament.''
After scoring only 13 points in the second half at Virginia two weeks earlier, Maryland didn't fare much better in the first half of this one. The Terps went 10 for 30 from field, missed all six of their free throws and were outrebounded in falling behind 31-22.
Maryland took an early lead before Akil Mitchell made a hook shot and a layup to begin a 12-3 spurt that put the Cavaliers up 15-7. Scott took over in the latter portion of the half, scoring 10 of Virginia's final 16 points.
Stoglin went 3 for 12 from the field over the opening 20 minutes and spent the first 5 minutes of the second half on the bench while Turgeon took his chances with reserves John Auslander and Jonathan Thomas.
