Maryland men’s basketball beat UMBC, 82-81, at Xfinity Center Monday night in its lone exhibition contest ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The Terps, in their first game under coach Buzz Williams, were without four expected rotation players in Diggy Coit, Myles Rice, Solomon Washington and Isaiah Watts.
Here are three takeaways from the Terps’ win.
Pharrel Payne’s interior dominance
Payne, who followed Williams from Texas A&M, was the Terps’ highest-profile transfer this offseason. The senior forward exceeded expectations on Monday.
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward poured in a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. He used his frame to his advantage against a smaller Retriever frontcourt — also feasting defensively with three blocks.
“His physicality was excellent,” Williams said. “We’re probably going to need him to play even better than he did tonight.” Williams added that Payne, who played 31 minutes, needs to “be in better shape.”
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The Terps’ starting forward shot 8-for-11 from the free throw line, an encouraging uptick from his 58 percent rate with the Aggies. Maryland as a whole shot over 76 percent at the charity stripe Monday.
Darius Adams aggressive but inefficient
Adams saw an extended role in his first college game. The freshman guard, starting in a shorthanded Terps’ backcourt, logged 19 points — second to Payne — along with seven rebounds and two steals.
“It was just a regular game for me,” Adams said. “I’m always that aggressive … just doing whatever the team needs.”
He was the only Terp to play all 40 minutes, a responsibility Adams said he was prepared to uphold following Maryland’s three-week summer ‘Boot Camp,’ in which conditioning was a strong component.
Over half of Adams’ points came off free throws — a primary area of focus entering November, he said. Aside from that, the freshman was widely inefficient. Adams shot 3-for-13 while committing three turnovers in his Maryland debut.
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Sporadic shooting, defensive lapses
Despite early paint dominance, Maryland converted just one of its first 11 shot attempts from beyond the arc. But the Terps, down as many as six late in the second half, made each of their final four 3-pointers.
Williams implemented a three-two zone for the majority of the first half, then shifted to man defense down the stretch. A clogged lane and reactionary help defense made way for a barrage of open perimeter looks for the Retrievers.
“Our defense needs to get better, our physicality needs to get better,” Adams said.
Monday marked just the third time a Williams-coached team has committed 17-plus turnovers in a game this calendar year — the other two coming in January and February with Texas A&M.
Cleaning up offensive mistakes, specifically among Maryland’s young group of primary ball handlers, is a focal point moving forward, Williams said.
“Our turnover rate was one thing from an offensive standpoint … we’ve got to lessen,” Williams said. “It’s just the volatility of the learning and executing. There’s going to be some bumps.”
