College basketball

ACC men: Maryland player's second chance pays off in double-OT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - John Gilchrist figured he had let his team down by fumbling away a chance to win at the end of the first overtime.

Given some time to think about it on the bench, and then a chance to make amends, Gilchrist hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:12 left on Saturday, giving No.22 Maryland to a 92-89 victory over Virginia.

"He really sent a message to the team - if he could sit me down, anybody can get sat down," Gilchrist said of coach Gary Williams.

"To come at the end and hit a big shot, it was a textbook ending."

Virginia had a chance to tie it with 18 seconds to go in the second overtime, but Elton Brown missed two free throws, capping his 3-for-13 showing from the line. As a team, Virginia was 12-for-27 from the line.

The victory was as big for the Terrapins' NCAA tournament hopes as it was damaging to the Cavaliers' hopes of going anywhere in the postseason.

Maryland (16-8, 7-6), coming off a 19-point road loss at North Carolina State, still has home games against Clemson and No. 4 North Carolina and finishes on the road against Virginia Tech.

The Cavaliers (13-11, 4-9) lost their second in a row after three consecutive victories raised hopes that a surging finish could earn them an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Now, even the NIT looks sketchy.

NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA 88, CLEMSON 56: Jawad Williams scored 17 points, sixth-man and Marvin Williams added 14 as North Carolina routed Clemson, leaving the Tigers 0-51 on the road in this series.

Clemson's futility in Chapel Hill is the longest active losing streak in the country; Penn once won 52 straight home games over Brown for the all-time record.

Sean May finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who moved into a first-place tie with Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Sharrod Ford led Clemson with 13 points, but this one really never was in doubt, even though Tigers coach Oliver Purnell tried his best early on to motivate his players.

Barely 90 seconds into the game, he was up protesting a foul called on Sam Perry, and Purnell continued yelling at referee Gary Maxwell while the Tar Heels prepared to inbound the ball. Finally, referee Mike Wood heard enough and gave Purnell a technical, and two free throws by Jawad Williams made it 4-1. It quickly got worse from there.

North Carolina jumped to a 14-1 lead as the Tigers missed their first eight shots. They eventually got to 20-12 on a layup by Vernon Hamilton, but that was the last time the margin was less than 10.

VIRGINIA TECH 71, MIAMI 58: Zabian Dowdell scored 17, nine in the last 10 minutes, as Virginia Tech broke open the game and a fourth-place tie with Miami. Miami coach Frank Haith was given medical clearance to join the team after undergoing an appendectomy Thursday. Guillermo Diaz led the 'Canes with 12 points.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]