BALTIMORE — Maryland basketball kicked off the Buzz Williams era in style Monday night, defeating Coppin State 83-61 at CFG Bank Arena in the Hall of Fame series opener.
WATCH: Terps dominate Eagles 83-61 in Williams' debut
The victory marked the first official game for a completely revamped Terrapins roster featuring 15 new players under first-year head coach Williams.
"I understand it's a small sample size, but I thought there was more continuity on both sides of the ball, for building block one, so to say," Williams said.
"I thought the energy was more pure. I thought at times our execution on what we want to do was more apparent."
Maryland's offense caught fire early from beyond the arc, connecting on eight three-pointers in the first half. The hot shooting cooled significantly after halftime, as the Terps managed just two makes on 12 attempts from deep in the second half.
Williams acknowledged the unsustainable nature of the early three-point barrage.
"Projecting, I would say that's not what we'll end up being able to do, nor what we would want," Williams said.
"Some of those shots that happened in the first half were good in regards to that language, but we probably fell prey in the wrong way to thinking that was what we want to be about, and I don't think long term any team can be about that."
Senior forward Pharrell Payne led Maryland's balanced attack with 21 points and six rebounds in his debut performance.
"I'd say it went pretty good," Payne said. "Me and my team were able to pull it out a lot. Yeah, we fought and we were able to come out with a win."
The Terrapins will face their next test in a DMV rivalry matchup against Georgetown on November 7. Coppin State returns to action on November 5 against La Salle.
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