Pharrel Payne Drops 30 In Terps Victory Over Wagner

Pharrel Payne scored a career-high 30 points in the Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team's 89-63 victory at home against Wagner yesterday evening. Maryland (6-3) ended its two-game skid after dropping contests to No. 12 Gonzaga and No. 8 Alabama back-to-back.

Payne also secured a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds while shooting 8-of-11 from the field, 14-of-20 from the charity strike, and three blocks.

Bringing the Payne 😤 pic.twitter.com/PXgplHQ7py
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) December 3, 2025

Payne has been one of the Terps' main contributors on offense this season, tallying double-digit scoring in all games he has played so far.

Payne spoke postgame about playing with physicality, which helped with his career-high outing and getting to the free throw line often stating;

"Just doing what I do. I mean, physicality is a big part of my game, just being aggressive and getting to the hoop. That definitely helped me with the free throws as long as I kept that aggressiveness and finished at the hoop."

Meanwhile, Wagner (1-6) had three double-digit scorers: Nick Jones (16 points), Jaden Baker (13 points), and Sam Smith (10 points).

Wagner kept the first half interesting, staying in the game and even trading leads at certain points. The Seahawks would hold their last lead of the game at the 2:51 mark, after Smith hit two free throws to make it a 24-23 game.

The Terps would finish off the first half on a 10-2 run, taking a 33-26 lead into the half.

Maryland would not relinquish its lead the rest of the game, outscoring Wagner 56-37 in the second half, en route to a comfortable 26-point victory.

Maryland's defensive energy was on notice last night as they held Wagner to 37% shooting from the field (21-57) and 26% shooting from behind the arc (6-23).

Defense ➡️ Offense 💪@HerculesFences pic.twitter.com/Qvvurwijj9
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) December 3, 2025

The Terps also forced 18 turnovers, scoring 21 points off them.

Forward Solomon Washington made his Terps' debut, scoring 10 points to go along with six rebounds, a block, and a steal in 25 minutes of action.

SOLO WITH AUTHORITY‼️

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/Szrm5Qe1pY
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) December 3, 2025

Washington talked about his first game and leading up to it:

"We knew since Vegas that I was going to be cleared on December 1st. I was practicing the entire time out there, warming up and just getting back in the groove of things. I knew I was going to be ready, just gotta get my wind back, but I'll be fine come Saturday."

Myles Rice scored 16 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting, with four rebounds and five steals.

Darius Adams added 12 points, six rebounds and two steals.