Pharrel Payne put up 21 points with six rebounds, freshman Darius Adams scored 10 of his 16 points at the foul line and Maryland tipped off its season with an 83-61 win over Coppin State in the Naismith Hall of Fame Series on Monday in Baltimore.
Maryland (1-0) saw its lead whittled down to as few as seven points in the early stages of the second half, but a late 22-2 run sealed the result in Buzz Williams’ first game as Maryland’s coach.
Payne was one of four Texas A&M players to follow Williams to Maryland, and he went 6 of 8 from the floor and 9 of 9 from the free-throw line Monday. Andre Mills, who redshirted for the Aggies last year, poured in 13 points with three 3-pointers in his Terrapins debut, as did David Coit.
Khali Horton scored 19 points and Tyler Koenig had 12 for Coppin State (0-1), which suffered from 20 turnovers that Maryland turned into 30 points.
Maryland raced out to a 20-6 lead eight minutes into the game. Elijah Saunders (14 points) and Mills hit 3-pointers before Saunders batted a Coppin State pass down to himself and powered the other way for a two-handed dunk.
The Terrapins twice built their lead to 16 points, but Coppin State didn’t lie down. The final five minutes of the half were particularly productive for the Eagles, as they made five attempts in a row, two by DeMariontay Hall, to keep the margin respectable.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent for the half before Maryland took a 47-32 lead into intermission.
Then the Terrapins got cold, missing their first seven field-goal attempts of the second half. Coppin State got six early points from Horton on a 3-pointer and three free throws. Torrin Andrews’ triple trimmed it to 54-47 at the 14:26 mark.
It was still a 10-point game with 11:09 left when Adams went to the line for two free throws, launching a quick 8-0 Maryland run. Payne provided 15 of his points in the second half, and his layup restored a 20-point lead with 6:23 on the clock.
Saunders had a fastbreak dunk for an exclamation point, and Maryland led by as many as 30 in the final stages.
Myles Rice and Solomon Washington sat out the opener for Maryland due to ankle injuries.
