Maryland men’s basketball outlasts UNLV, 74-67, in Players Era tournament

Maryland men’s basketball fans had every right to fear an extended absence of big man Pharrel Payne.

The senior was taken off in a stretcher in the team’s contest against Marquette just a week and a half ago with a lower body injury. But it didn’t take long for him to come back and give the Terps exactly what they needed.

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On a night that Maryland attempted 31 3-pointers, Payne was the steadying presence it needed to forge a second half comeback. He notched a team-high 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the latter frame, and perhaps none were bigger than his energetic putback and-one to give the Terps an eight-point lead with just over two minutes left.

On an overall sloppy, 20-turnover night, Maryland snuck away with a 74-67 victory over UNLV.

Missed shots characterized the early minutes. While the pace of the game was speedy, neither offense really found a rhythm. In the first three and a half minutes, Maryland went just 2-of-6 from the field with a pair of turnovers, while UNLV was a dismal 1-of-8.

That careless basketball from Maryland provided the only early spark for the Rebels, as an errant Andre Mills dish led to an alley-oop on the other end.

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In his early minutes returning from injury, Pharrel Payne wasn’t nearly as featured as he had been in the team’s first few games. Sporting a brace on his right knee, it took him 11 minutes to score his first points.

Instead, the Terps’ offense was perimeter-focused. Isaiah Watts and Diggy Coit cashed in Maryland’s first two 3-pointers, but that was all the team could muster from downtown in the first eight minutes — on eight attempts.

The turnover bug only continued. The Terps incurred seven giveaways in the opening eight minutes. On multiple occasions, Maryland tried to sneak in passes to Payne in the paint, but UNLV’s active hands calmly whisked away possession and turned up court.

Payne flashed the dominance Maryland fans were accustomed to near the seven-minute mark of the first half,…

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Publish date : 2025-11-25 07:33:00

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