Washington ? When Gary Williams demanded an emotional performance to end a rare losing streak, Steve Blake and Drew Nicholas delivered.

Blake had career-highs of 27 points and five three-pointers, and Nicholas added 27 points to lead No. 9 Maryland to a 93-82 victory over George Washington on Sunday in the third-place game of the BB&T Classic.

Blake didn’t score until he converted his first three-pointer with 9:29 left in the first half and the Colonials ahead 31-24. That started a streak of 10 straight points by the senior guard.

“We were struggling a little bit and I wanted to get things going,” Blake said. “I told myself there was no way we were going to lose this game. I wanted to make things happen.”

The Terrapins (4-2), who were only 4-for-17 on three-point attempts in a stunning loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, were 12-of-17 from beyond the arc against the Colonials (3-3).

“Against Notre Dame, none of us looked like we wanted to play basketball,” Nicholas said. “I think we showed we do today.”

Nicholas tied a career-best with five threes as the defending national champions averted their first three-game losing streak since February 2001.

Chris Monroe led George Washington with 19 points.

Omar Williams scored 17 points and T.J. Thompson had 15 points and 10 assists for the Colonials, who have lost two straight. Mike Hall had 13 rebounds for GW.

Maryland, which shot only 37 percent from the field in the opening-round loss to the Fighting Irish, seemed unprepared for George Washington’s effective up-tempo attack.

“We didn’t press,” Gary Williams said. “We just tried to get back down the court before they did. We were able to shorten the court a little bit.”

George Washington coach Karl Hobbs’ strategy of utilizing the transition game hit a roadblock when the Terrapins starting making shots and grabbing rebounds for second-chance baskets. In the middle of the Maryland comeback were Blake and Nicholas.

No. 8 Florida 68, South Florida 52

Gainesville, Fla. – Anthony Roberson had 19 points and David Lee added 16 for the Gators (6-2), who have won 33 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents and are 24-1 in December over the past three seasons.

No. 21 Michigan State 79, Cleveland State 47

East Lansing, Mich. – Erazem Lorbek scored a career-high 16 points and didn’t miss a shot as the Spartans (4-2) used a big first-half run to put away a second straight opponent. Lorbek, a 6-foot-10 reserve freshman from Slovenia, made all four of his field-goal attempts.