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Media Credit: POUYA DIANAT–THE DIAMONDBACK Coach Gary Williams does a post-game interview in front of sophmore James Gist and junior Ekene Ibekwe, who motioned to pump up the crowd after the record win. [Click to enlarge]

Virginia's Mamadi Diane drives past Mike Jones and D.J. Strawberry. The Terp duo combined for 34 points as they broke a three-game losing streak. [Click to enlarge]

It wasn't even four minutes into last night's Terrapin basketball game when a 13-0 Virginia rally sucked every unit of energy from Comcast Center. Even the cheerleaders were falling all over each other during their routine in the first media timeout.

At that point, nobody could have predicted by the end of the night a jubilant student section would be raising signs with the number 349, coach Gary Williams would be fighting off tears and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich's son would be dancing on the sideline.

But that's how things ended on a crazy, memorable night as the Terps outscored the Cavaliers 34-14 in the final 10 minutes, 20 seconds to win, 76-65, and make Williams the winningest coach in school history.

"Sorry it took a few games," senior captain Nik Caner-Medley told Williams as he handed the coach a commemorative basketball with the entire team surrounding its leader on the court after the game. "[You're the] greatest coach in Maryland history."

Williams welled up with emotion as he addressed the fans and media, but in a typically rugged ACC game there was no opportunity to think about milestones.

"There was no time for any emotion, other than being upset for about 39 out of the 40 minutes," Williams said. "That wasn't any different. But after the game ended, you realize how big the game was."

It wasn't just important because the coach finally passed Charles "Lefty" Driesell's wins mark, earning No. 349 at his alma mater on the fourth try. It was significant because it put the Terps (15-7, 5-4 ACC) over .500 in the conference and proved to the players they can compete for a return to the NCAA tournament.

At first, it seemed Virginia (11-9, 5-5) would be a team better suited for post-season play. The Cavaliers had leads as big as 14 during the first six minutes before the Terps got the ball inside and finally got some shots to drop.

Travis Garrison made three jumpers in a three-minute stretch to help the Terps cut the deficit to eight at the half, and a gritty team effort led by an unlikely floor general - junior transfer Parrish Brown - pulled the squad over the top in the second half.

D.J. Strawberry led the team with a career-high 19 points and added three assists. Ekene Ibekwe ripped down a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with 14 points and two blocks.

As a group, the Terps had eight fewer turnovers than their opponents and held the Cavaliers to 26.7 percent 3-point shooting in the final 20 minutes.

"I had a feeling we were going to come back," Ibekwe said. "I knew that we were. The way we won was playing really intense and really emotional. If we play like that we'll win a lot of games."

Even when Mike Jones (15 points) missed a breakaway dunk that could have been disastrous with the Terps leading by one with less than six minutes left, the Terps had the defensive passion and accuracy from the free-throw line (87.5 percent) to hold on.

Of course, attention quickly shifts to the match-up with No. 2-ranked Duke Saturday, but several players admitted a win last night will help them throughout practice the rest of the week.

"We needed this win, and we got it," Caner-Medley said. "We were persistent in our game plan getting the ball inside and trying to get our guards to be aggressive. We wore their guards down [after] they started off hot."

Those guards - J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary - each scored 18 points, but took a combined 29 shots to do so, turned the ball over eight times and committed eight personal fouls.

On the other end, the Terps had six players with at least seven points and only one player with three fouls (Ibekwe).

Williams told his team during a timeout that "we're going to win this by playing good defense and running our offense, not by making spectacular plays."

The players bought in, and had a chance to bask in their coach's spotlight as the celebration spilled onto the court.

Two years ago here, Williams went into a frenzy, pumping his fist in front of the bench as the Terps finished off Virginia to effectively lock up an NCAA tournament bid. This celebration was milder, but the resiliency the Terps showed was a microcosm of Williams' tenure at the university and a confidence-boost for this team.

"That's something that I'm going to remember for the rest of my life," Caner-Medley said. "It's something little, but it's something to me that means a lot, because as a coach I can only imagine what it feels like. - To present him that ball is probably the best moment in my career."

It wasn't Williams greatest victory as a coach - he conjured memories of the difficult first three years with the program, being able to open the Comcast Center and heading to two Final Fours - but gave him a record that speaks to the quality and resiliency of the program.

"Emotions rise at the end of the game, because you really think how lucky you are," Williams said, hesitating to catch his composure and avoid tears. "There's great coaches at every level. - Some guys get in situations where they can't win, other guys get jobs where you can win. And I've always felt that way. Maybe from being a [high school] jayvee coach, I've never forgotten that. At the same time I realize where I've been and how great it is to coach here."

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.

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