Associated Press

Maryland's Greivis Vasquez (top) passes past Virginia's Sammy Zeglinski (13) during the Terrapins' 84-78 win over Virginia in College Park, Md. The Terrapins led 45-30 at halftime.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Coach Dave Leitao feared Virginia's trip to Maryland had the potential for disaster.

Inauguration ceremonies did not create the anticipated travel problems, but Leitao clearly would have taken a traffic jam for what his Cavaliers experienced on the Comcast Center basketball court.

The Terrapins, with three losses in their four previous games, exploited all of UVa's weaknesses Tuesday night before holding off the Cavaliers 84-78.

Virginia's day had started innocently enough, when a police escort arrived at the team's Columbia, Md., hotel at 4 p.m., and notified the coaches that there was almost no traffic on the roads.

The Cavaliers (7-8 overall, 1-3 ACC) were like lambs being led to a slaughter.

In a word, UVa's performance was sloppy, especially in the first half. The Cavaliers shot 34.5 percent from the field (10-for-29) and committed 13 turnovers, many leading to easy baskets for the Terrapins, who shot 58.6 percent (17-for-29) in the first half.

"Coach [Leitao] gets on us every day in practice about turnovers and about valuing the ball," UVa junior Jamil Tucker said. "Having that many turnovers in a half is a slap in the face."

Maryland (13-5, 2-2) never trailed, but Virginia was hanging with the Terps until they went on a 17-3 run to turn a 28-25 lead into a 45-28 spread with 1:05 remaining before halftime.

Leitao's frustration bubbled over when he pulled point guard Sammy Zeglinski only 47 seconds into the second half, then substituted for Mamadi Diane with 18:34 remaining. Leitao and Diane, a product of nearby DeMatha Catholic High School who was playing in his native Maryland for the last time, appeared to exchange words at that point.

Better offensive efficiency enabled the Cavaliers to get back in the game, and they got as close as 65-63 on a pair of Mike Scott free throws with 5:05 left. However, Virginia could not come up with stops.

The Terps scored on 10 of 12 possessions in extending their lead to 76-67 and the Cavaliers were unable to counter. First, Calvin Baker was called for palming, then Virginia missed three straight shots from inside before the Terps swept away the rebound.

Virginia scored 27 points in the final 9:43 but was in a position of having to foul Maryland as the clock wound down. The Terps responded by going 8-for-8 from the line in the final 1:04, with Landon Milbourne and Greivis Vazquez hitting four apiece.

Tucker had a career-high 21 points to lead the Cavaliers.

"I can't personally feel good if the team doesn't feel good," Tucker said.

Sylven Landesberg made only two of 10 shots from the field and finished with seven points. Zeglinski was 0-for-4 from the field and Mustapha Farrakhan was 1-for-7.

It was the second straight road game in which Virginia had cut a 15-point second-half deficit to two points. In the other instance, the Cavaliers lost at Virginia Tech, 78-75.

"If you look at sports in general, usually when teams get down on the road and work their way back, you expend so much energy that sometimes you don't have the physical or mental capability to finish the deal off," Leitao said. "We dug ourselves a hole in the first half that we could not climb out of."

Virginia MP FG FT R A F PT

Scott 23 3-8 10-10 10 0 4 16

Sene 10 2-2 0-0 7 0 4 4

Zeglinski 19 0-4 0-0 0 1 3 0

Landesberg 34 2-10 3-4 11 3 1 7

Diane 17 4-5 1-2 1 2 3 9

Farrakhan 23 1-7 0-0 1 1 2 2

Baker 22 7-10 0-0 0 3 1 16

Tucker 26 7-1 3-3 3 0 1 21

Jones 0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Brandenburg 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Tat 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 2

Mayinsse 21 1-1 1-2 1 0 0 0

Totals 200 27-48 18-21 35 10 21 77

Maryland MP FG FT R A F PT

Milbourne 37 5-9 7-7 5 0 1 17

Neal 13 3-5 0-0 0 2 1 8

Hayes 32 4-9 0-0 2 11 0 10

Vasquez 36 4-10 7-8 3 3 2 16

Bowie 34 6-11 5-6 4 2 3 17

Dupree 10 1-3 2-2 1 0 2 4

Kim 5 0-0 0-0 2 0 1 0

Mosley 13 2-2 0-0 2 1 0 4

Tucker 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0

Gregory 16 4-5 0-1 2 0 5 8

Totals 200 29-54 21-24 25 20 16 84

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Virginia 30 48 -- 78

Maryland 45 39 -- 84

3-point goals: Virginia 6-20 (Tucker 4-6, Baker 2-4, Farrakhan 0-4, Zeglinski 0-3, Landesberg 0-2, Diane 0-1), Maryland 5-10 (Hayes 2-6, Neal 2-2, Vasquez 1-2).

Turnovers: Virginia 19 (Scott, Zeglinski, Landesberg, Baker 3), Maryland 13 (Milbourne, Bowie 3). Blocked shots: Virginia 2 (Diane, Tucker), Maryland 3 (Vasquez 2). Steals: Virginia 3 (Scott, Diane, Tucker), Maryland 11 (Hayes 3). Officials: Wood, Eades, Hull. Attendance: 16,205.