Maryland men’s basketball rallies in 89-82 win over Marquette

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics

Injuries have already crippled Maryland men’s basketball just a few weeks into the season. Even after the Terps suffered their most devastating loss Saturday, they gutted out a marquee win.

Maryland (3-1) had its most complete offensive performance of the season in an 89-82 win over Marquette (3-2). The Terps shot over 50% from the field, despite losing leading scorer Pharrel Payne to injury in the second half.

With about 12 minutes left in the second half, Payne threw down an alley-oop dunk, but suffered an injury when he landed. The Maryland big man came down off the rim awkwardly and collapsed on the court.  

Coach Buzz Williams immediately sprinted to check on the Texas A&M transfer. Payne was stretchered off the court shortly after. Williams and the Terps bowed their heads and huddled tightly following Payne’s injury.

“[Payne] is our best player. That’s well-received within our program,” Williams said. “I’ve never seen him hurt, and the angle that I saw, it did not appear good … When I got back to the huddle, our kids said, ‘Coach, you got to pray for him,’ so … I didn’t talk about ball, we just prayed for him.”

Despite losing its go-to scoring option and one of the team’s most experienced players, Maryland came out of the break looking revitalized. The Terps outscored the Golden Eagles 36-24 following Payne’s injury and rallied for their first win over a Power Five opponent this season.

Maryland snapped out of its cold streak in the second half against Alcorn State. It continued that offensive rhythm in the first half at Marquette.

Redshirt junior guard Myles Rice was sidelined again with a lingering ankle injury. The Indiana transfer was Maryland’s leading scorer in the one game that he’s played this season, finishing with 19 points against Georgetown.

Graduate guard David Coit drew the start in his place and served as an offensive spark. He scored nine of Maryland’s first 12 points – all of which came from 3-pointers.

“We anticipate [Coit’s] going to have to play a lot, so he’s going to have to continue at the pace that he’s been at,” Williams said Friday. “Off the bench last year, [he was] kind of in a completely different role than what he’s been in through the first two weeks of this season. But he’s embraced that and wanted that.”

The Terps went 5-for-10 from three in the first half after shooting below 30% from long range against Alcorn State and Georgetown. Coit led the way with four 3-pointers and a season-best 15 points in the first 20 minutes.

Payne, Maryland’s leading scorer this season, looked nearly unguardable early, picking up a quick nine points. However, after a pair of personal fouls, the senior was benched with 8:58 remaining in the first half with the Terps leading 30-19. In Payne’s absence, the offense stagnated. 

Marquette ripped off a 13-3 run and outscored Maryland 23-12 down the stretch in the first half. Offensive rebounds fueled the Golden Eagles’ run.

Maryland and Marquette both corralled 11 defensive rebounds in the first half, but the Golden Eagles gathered 12 offensive boards to the Terps’ zero.

Marquette extended several of its possessions late in the first half and scored 19 second-chance points.

“It’s a lot of teaching, it’s a lot of emphasis, how we practice, what we do in film, how we grade rebounding takes an enormous amount of time,” Williams said. “We are beyond bad at it.”

To start the second half, the Terps seemed to revert to their level of play against Georgetown.

Maryland failed to string together clean possessions on both ends, committing four turnovers and three personal fouls while making only one field goal early in the second half.

Maryland turned the corner after Payne’s injury. The Terps’ guards powered a 12-0 run to give Maryland a 72-64 advantage. 

Marquette missed numerous uncontested layups during the stretch and shot only 13-for-39 from the field in the second half. 

Junior guard Isaiah Watts extended Maryland’s lead in the final minutes. Watts converted an and-one after drawing a foul on a tipped-in layup with 3:35 left in the game, then cashed in a corner three less than two minutes later. That three gave Maryland an 83-71 lead, its first double-digit advantage in the second half.

Coit, Watts and freshman guard Darius Adams – three key pieces in the Terps’ second-half offensive turnaround – all finished with double-digit points and set season highs in scoring. The trio will be integral to Maryland’s offense without Payne.