Fueled by elite defensive play, Virginia continues to enjoy one of its finest conference runs in school history.
The 17th-ranked Cavaliers look to bottle up a Maryland team that's recently improved on offense and notch their longest ACC winning streak in 31 years with a victory Monday night.
Virginia (19-5, 10-1 ACC) put forth one of its best defensive performances Saturday to win its seventh straight, 64-45 at Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers trailed by two with 9:52 left before closing the game with a 22-1 run. The Yellow Jackets had been shooting 50 percent (17 of 34) before going 1 for 15 over the final 13:43.
The Cavaliers have held their last five opponents to 51.0 points and 38.7 percent shooting per game.
"That's what we try to do," said Malcolm Brogdon, who scored 14. "We try to be patient on offense and use 30 to 35 seconds, and ... we try to wear them down on defense. That's exactly the way we want to play. We think we have great depth and we're able to get after guys defensively."
Brogdon was just 3 of 12 from the field in his worst shooting performance in league action, but hit all seven of his free throws. The 6-foot-5 guard also grabbed 11 rebounds to complete his second straight double-double after not recording one in his first 50 career games. He is averaging 15.3 points in conference play while shooting 47.2 percent after averaging 9.5 points on 39.0 percent shooting in 13 non-conference games.
Brogdon has faced Maryland only once, going 5 of 6 with 14 points off the bench in Virginia's 71-44 rout on Feb. 18, 2012. He missed all of last season with a broken foot.
A victory Monday would give the Cavaliers their first eight-game ACC winning streak since 1982-83, as well as their first six-game win streak in the series. They claimed a 61-58 overtime victory at home in the last meeting March 10.
The Terrapins (14-10, 6-5) are 0-3 against ranked squads but have won three of four overall after dropping four of their previous five. They're averaging 79.0 points and shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point range over their last three victories, though those games came against teams with a combined 33-36 record. The Terps averaged 65.8 points and shot just 37.4 percent during their previous 1-4 stretch.
Seth Allen scored a career-best 32 points - including 21 in the first half - and was 7 of 10 from beyond the arc in an 83-71 home win over Florida State on Saturday.
"Seth Allen was on another level tonight," coach Mark Turgeon said. "He made some incredible shots. He played within himself most of the game and I was really proud of him."
Maryland has dropped 13 in a row on the road against ranked opponents since winning at then-No. 1 North Carolina on Jan. 19, 2008.
With nine double-digit victories in league play, Virginia is one shy of notching a single-season school record. The Cavaliers' 14-game conference home winning streak is tied with Duke for the longest in the ACC and two short of the school record.
