Maryland Men’s Basketball Faces Harsh Reality Without Pharrel Payne: Turnovers, Defensive Lapses, and a Guard-Heavy Identity Crisis
If there’s one thing this Maryland team has made clear through the early part of the season, it’s this: they weren’t built to be led by their backcourt. And now, with starting center Pharrel Payne sidelined indefinitely after a lower leg injury on December 13, the Terps are being forced into a new identity - one that, so far, isn’t holding up under pressure.
Saturday’s 80-72 loss to No. 23 Virginia was more than just another early-season stumble.
It was a window into what Maryland looks like without its most physical and dependable presence in the paint. The Terps coughed up the ball 19 times - and 15 of those were live-ball turnovers.
That’s the kind of stat that doesn’t just show up on the box score; it swings games.
Head coach Buzz Williams was visibly frustrated postgame, and he didn’t sugarcoat it.
“I know I grew up in a small town and went to a community college - that’s bad math no matter where you went to school,” he said, referencing the staggering number of live-ball giveaways. “Tonight we may have played with our highest turnover rate.”
Turnovers Piling Up, and Not All Created Equal
Maryland currently leads the Big Ten in turnovers per game at 14.2 - not exactly the stat you want to top the conference in. But Williams has emphasized that it’s not just about the volume of turnovers, it’s about the kind.
Live-ball turnovers - which he includes blocked shots in - are the ones that really hurt. They’re the ones that lead directly to transition buckets the other way.
And against a disciplined Virginia team, those mistakes were punished.
Starting guards Diggy Coit and Myles Rice were responsible for three turnovers apiece. Freshman Darius Adams, coming off the bench, added four of his own in just 22 minutes and finished with a team-worst -11 plus-minus. That’s not the kind of impact you want from your second unit, especially when depth is already being tested.
Rice, a transfer from Indiana, came in with expectations to stabilize the backcourt. But right now, he’s sitting with more turnovers than assists on the season.
Adams isn’t far behind - 22 turnovers to just 16 assists. Coit, for his part, has been Maryland’s most productive guard, leading the team in assists by a wide margin.
But at 5'11", he’s more of a scoring threat than a true facilitator. He dropped a team-high 15 points against Virginia, and with Payne out, the Terps will need every bit of that scoring punch.
“He does have the ability to score in bunches,” Williams said. “And transparently, that helps our group, particularly when [Payne] is not playing.”
Shooting Woes and Defensive Breakdowns
Coit might be the only consistent shooter Maryland has right now. He’s hitting at a 43% clip from the field, while the rest of the guard rotation has struggled.
Andre Mills and Isaiah Watts each knocked down a pair of threes against Virginia, but both are shooting under 30% from deep on the season. That’s not going to cut it, especially in a Big Ten that demands consistent perimeter shooting.
The bigger concern, though, might be on the defensive end. Virginia’s Dallin Hall, who had scored just 18 total points in his previous four games, exploded for 20 against Maryland.
Jacari White added 15 more, including three from beyond the arc. The Terps struggled to rotate on the perimeter, often arriving a step late - a product, in part, of their inability to protect the paint without Payne.
Williams acknowledged the issue but pointed to another root cause: rebounding.
“We didn’t limit them on the offensive glass the way that we should,” he said.
Virginia grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, creating second-chance opportunities that Maryland couldn’t afford to give up. Without Payne - who led the team in defensive rebound rate and ranked first nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes - the Terps are scrambling to find someone who can anchor the interior.
Searching for Solutions in the Paint
Right now, Maryland is rotating a trio of bigs - George Turkson Jr., Elijah Saunders, and Collin Metcalf - to fill the void left by Payne. None have matched his physicality or impact. That’s not just a problem in the rebounding department; it affects everything from rim protection to how the team defends pick-and-rolls.
And it’s not like the guards are cleaning up the glass either. Coit and Rice weren’t known for their rebounding before arriving in College Park. Mills and Adams, at 6'4" and 6'5" respectively, are averaging four boards per game - solid numbers, but not enough to compensate for what’s missing in the middle.
With Payne out, Maryland’s guards are being asked to do more - and not just in scoring or facilitating. They’re being leaned on to rebound, defend, and lead. That’s a tall task for a group still trying to find its rhythm.
A Steep Climb Ahead
This was Maryland’s fifth game against a Top-30 NET opponent, and the early schedule hasn’t done them any favors. Williams has tried to keep the focus on internal growth - building momentum in the process, not just in the win column. But Payne’s injury has thrown a wrench into that development arc.
The Terps are now a team in transition - one that’s being forced to evolve on the fly. Without their anchor in the post, they’re leaning heavily on a backcourt that’s still figuring things out. And as Saturday showed, the learning curve might be steeper than expected.
For Maryland, the path forward is clear but far from easy. Until Payne returns, if he returns at all, this team will have to find a way to clean up the turnovers, shore up the defense, and get more consistent production from its guards. Otherwise, the season could start slipping away - one live-ball turnover at a time.