COLLEGE PARK, MD (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia’s biggest deficit of this young basketball season, before Friday night, was a 5-point hole in the opening minutes of its win over Northeastern. But there were the No. 6 Cavaliers, in their first true road game, down 11 at the half at Maryland, the Xfinity Center red and rocking. 

The environment was hostile. The opponent was physical. UVA looked off its game. The Cavaliers committed turnovers, missed free throws and couldn’t find their outside shooting stroke.

Then, they found a way to leave College Park with the grittiest win of the year.

Sam Lewis scored a career-high 28 points, had six rebounds and a key late steal, and Thijs De Ridder added 20 points as the Cavaliers rallied for a 87-83 win.

Virginia (5-0) outscored Maryland 34-20 over the final 12:18 of play, never wilting or shrinking, taking punches until it was finally ready to deliver them.

Johann Grunloh added 15 points and Chance Mallory had 12 for the Cavaliers.

Maryland drew 27 fouls and took 39 free throws, hitting 31 of them. The Terrapins forced 17 UVA turnovers and held it to 4 for 10 from 3-point range.

Different opponents test different facets of a team’s game. Friday night in College Park, the Terrapins tested UVA’s toughness. Buzz Williams’ Terrapins knocked the Cavaliers around, drawing fouls on the offensive end and forcing turnovers defensively. 

Much the way his early Virginia Tech teams did, Williams’ Maryland squad mucked the game up something aesthetically awful Friday night. 

The result, however, was a beautiful start for the home team. 

Maryland outscored Virginia 11-5 over the final two minutes of the first half to take a 47-36 lead to the locker room, its largest advantage of the half. 

UVA opened the second half with an 8-2 surge in the first two minutes that cut Maryland’s lead to 49-44. It got within four, down 57-53 with 14:13 to go. But the Terrapins, who were just 2 for 12 from beyond the arc at that point, banged back-to-back 3-pointers to push their lead up to 10 again.

Virginia wasn’t done. A 9-0 run, capped by a driving, scoop layup by Martin Carere, pulled UVA within a point, down 63-62 with 9:38 to go.

A pair of Grunloh free throws with seven minutes left tied the game 67-67, and a Mallory 3-pointer gave Virginia its first lead of the second half, up 70-69 with 6:31 remaining, setting up the Cavaliers’ tough-as-the-moment-required finish.