Through a nearly 11-minute span against Alcorn State Tuesday, Maryland men’s basketball didn’t make a single basket. The Terps tried everything — layups, midrange shots, 3-pointers — and still, it seemed the Xfinity Center rims were capped for the home team.
After the Braves committed their 11th turnover of the game, Coit found space in transition, sliding into the paint and attempting a reverse layup. It became the Terps’ 11th consecutive miss.
But Pharrel Payne came flying into the frame, getting
two hands onto the ball for an easy putback. Two minutes into the second half, the skid was broken.
Led by more early-season heroics from Payne, an infusion of youth ultimately didn’t cost Maryland in a 84-64 Veteran’s Day victory over Alcorn State.
The Terps opened the game doing what made them successful early. The ball was forced into Payne’s hands, and the big man suddenly found himself triple-teamed. Payne tried working through the contact, but his attempt was tipped out of bounds.
Darius Adams inbounded the ball right back to Payne, who again was surrounded by three Braves. But Payne made the opening basket of the game and three of the next seven for Maryland on his way to a team-leading 22 points.
But something new came on the next offensive possession — guard Isaiah Watts drove to the paint for an and-one, scoring his first points for Maryland.
For just under three minutes, the Braves matched the Terps. With the game tied at 7-7, the Xfinity Center crowd wouldn’t have been blamed for having flashbacks of games against UMBC and Coppin State, which Maryland made far more difficult than they had to be.
But from that moment, the Terps momentarily allayed those fears, embarking on a 13-0 run. Elijah Saunders and Payne each made two baskets in the stretch, with Maryland forcing costly turnovers and contested shots that helped build momentum.
The Terps rotated heavily throughout the game, with head coach Buzz Williams getting nine players at least eight minutes. The combinations were experimental as well, something that became more apparent coming out of the eight-minute media timeout — after the Terps took a 19-point lead, Maryland put as many as four freshmen on the court simultaneously.
That move allowed the Terps’ depth pieces to get valuable experience, but Alcorn State drew closer. The Braves took advantage of the unfamiliarity to cause turnovers on four straight possessions and cut the lead to single digits.
Williams continued to press on with substitutions, even as Maryland’s offense faltered. The Terps failed to score over the last nine minutes of the first half, with the lead thinning to six points at the intermission.
Alcorn State committed six turnovers across the opening five minutes of the second half — the Terps forced some, but the team that averaged 18.3 turnovers per game across its opening three contests was showing its colors.
With several opportunities afforded to it, the caps came off the rims for Maryland. Payne continued to score with ease, and 3-pointers from Andre Mills and Guillermo Del Pino helped the Terps restore their 19-point advantage.
After acting as facilitator for much of the game, Adams finally turned scorer. The freshman, who had missed eight of his first nine baskets, drained back-to-back threes to push Maryland over 60 points — their total against Georgetown — with just over seven minutes remaining in the contest.
The Braves continued to score at ease, largely due to the efforts of guard Jameel Morris. The FDU transfer went an astonishing 9-of-12 from the field, matching Payne with 22 points and keeping the scoreline respectable down the stretch.
Three things to know
1. Maryland sloppy in possession. The Terps struggled with turnovers, which made sense given the frequency with which they were switching positions within the offensive scheme to accommodate the lineup changes.
However, the source of those turnovers came as a slight surprise. Nine of Maryland’s 17 turnovers on the day came from the bigs, including four by Payne and three by Elijah Saunders.
2. Myles Rice back to the boot. Maryland didn’t miss the junior guard too badly, but it remained a surprise that Rice appeared with a boot back on his left foot. He scored a team-high 19 points against Georgetown, and his status ahead of Saturday’s contest against Marquette could be an important factor.
3. Welcome to the show, Guillermo Del Pino. The Spaniard’s run in Maryland’s starting lineup ended Tuesday. But Del Pino shone in a different role from the bench, easing himself into the game with a transition layup before draining a three and a midrange floater in the second half. He finished with seven points, two assists and a rebound.
