Associated Press

Maryland's Jordan Williams (20) shoots in front of Virginia's Assane Sene on Saturday.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- On any other day, Tony Bennett's first career technical foul might have qualified as a shocker.

The bigger bombshell came 45 minutes before tipoff, when Virginia announced that Bennett had suspended leading scorer Sylven Landesberg for academic negligence.

Just when it appeared that things couldn't get any worse for UVa, the Cavaliers came up with their most inspired performance in a month, taking ACC co-leader Maryland to the wire before falling 74-68 at John Paul Jones Arena.

It was the ninth straight loss for Virginia, which had lost each of its previous six games by double figures.

UVa (14-15 overall, 5-11 ACC) trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half before whittling the deficit to 66-65 on a Will Sherrill layup with 1:39.

After Sherrill took a charge against Greivis Vasquez, Virginia had the ball and a chance to take the lead but official Roger Ayers called Mustapha Farrakhan for a travelling violation with 1:01 left.

As Bennett got up to protest the call, he was met by lead official Jamie Luckie.

It would not be their last confrontation.

On Maryland's next possession, Sean Mosley made a move to the hoop and was met by UVa's Jerome Meyinsse. From the midcourt area, Luckie called a blocking foul on Meyinsse.

Bennett, not known for his tirades, jumped off the bench and made a move toward midcourt before ripping off his coat. He was headed back to the bench when Luckie hit him with a technical.

Maryland's Greivis Vasquez hit two free throws that resulted from the technical; then, Mosley hit two more free throws to put the Terrapins ahead 70-65 with 38 seconds left.

UVa got as close as 72-68 on Sammy Zeglinski's fourth 3-pointer of the game with eight seconds remaining, but 22nd-ranked Maryland (23-7, 13-3) prevailed and clinched at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship.

"It was a very difficult place for us to play," said Maryland coach Gary Williams, whose Terps had not won in Charlottesville since the 2006 opening of John Paul Jones Arena. "To Virginia's credit, they did everything they could to win the game."

The Cavaliers, who had shot 40 percent from the field only once in the previous eight games, shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half and 53.1 for the game.

Bennett said he had decided Friday night to suspend Landesberg for the remainder of the season, which could end as early as Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Teammates were informed when they started arriving at JPJ around 10 a.m.

"It was a hard decision because we know the values he brings to the team," said Bennett, who had been advised of Landesberg's irregular class attendance.

"He is a good kid but there are some expectations and standards that he has to adhere to."

Only one week earlier, Virginia also had faced fifth-ranked Duke without Landesberg, who was sidelined for one game by a thigh bruise.

Bennett was pleased with UVa's effort in a 67-49 loss to the Blue Devils, but the Cavaliers shot a season-low 31.4 percent in that game.

"I definitely wanted to make up for that game," said junior Jeff Jones, who started in Landesberg's place against Duke but was scoreless in 20 minutes of action, missing all three of his shots from the field.

A 14-4 Virginia run in the second half Saturday included Jones 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and he finished with 16 points. The Cavaliers were led in scoring Meyinsse, who hit seven of eight shots from the field and finished with 17 points, his fourth straight game in double figures.

Meyinsse is 13-of-14 from the field in the last two games and 19-of-22 in the last three.

He also was involved in the play of the game, the blocking foul that preceded the technical.

"I was hoping it would be a charge," Meyinsse said. "I thought he ran me over."

The play came at the end of the floor where Sherrill had drawn a charge on the previous possession, a call that had Maryland's bench in an uproar.

Less than a minute later, it was a normally mild-mannered Bennett who had to be restrained.

As shocking as the idea of Bennett picking up a technical might have been, "I would have been more shocked that a ref would have called a technical in the last minute of a one-point game," Sherrill said. "That's tough to take."

Luckie declined to meet with a pool reporter after the game, scribbling "unsportmanlike technical foul" on a scrap of paper that he handed to an attendant.

Bennett apologized to his team after the game and later told the media, "It wasn't a good time to get the first technical foul of my career -- that's for sure."

The defeat left Virginia with its longest losing streak since 1961-62, but of greater import was the future of Landesberg, a sophomore. Several teammates said they planned to get in touch with him after the game and Bennett held the door open for a Landesberg return in 2010-2011.

When asked if Landesberg would ever play for the Cavaliers again, Bennett responded, "I hope so."

MARYLAND (23-7)

Milbourne 1-7 3-6 5, Williams 3-8 1-2 7, Hayes 4-7 2-2 11, Mosley 1-3 8-8 10, Vasquez 7-18 4-4 23, Bowie 3-3 0-0 8, Tucker 2-4 1-2 5, Gregory 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 23-55 20-26 74.

VIRGINIA (14-15)

Scott 1-3 0-0 2, Tat 0-0 0-0 0, Meyinsse 7-8 3-4 17, Farrakhan 4-9 0-0 8, Baker 0-3 0-0 0, Evans 1-3 0-0 2, Sene 0-0 0-0 0, Zeglinski 5-11 0-0 14, Sherrill 4-5 0-0 9, Jones 4-7 4-4 16. Totals 26-49 7-8 68.

Halftime--Maryland 38-27. 3-Point Goals--Maryland 8-18 (Vasquez 5-11, Bowie 2-2, Hayes 1-3, Milbourne 0-1, Tucker 0-1), Virginia 9-20 (Jones 4-6, Zeglinski 4-8, Sherrill 1-2, Farrakhan 0-4). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Maryland 35 (Milbourne 7), Virginia 21 (Zeglinski 6). Assists--Maryland 14 (Hayes, Vasquez 5), Virginia 18 (Evans, Farrakhan 5). Total Fouls--Maryland 14, Virginia 18. Technical--Virginia Bench. A--13,431.