Dec. 9, 2001

Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"Coming into this game I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought we played hard but I wasn't sure how our execution would be. Playing without Byron in practice hurt both the first and second teams, and the fact that we hadn't played since Monday night worried me a little bit. Detroit has been a really good team the last three years, and going into this year they expected some good things. They're basically the same type of team as us."

"We're still not shooting the ball great. But we're getting the ball inside, and we gave each other some easy shots, so the percentage was right up there. We're going to be a better shooting team. We're close right now. I think the free throw shooting the last couple of games was an indication, and hopefully we're going to continue to improve offensively. I just like the way we passed the ball. Tonight we had 18 assists. That is one of the keys to us being a good team."

On Tahj Holden:
"He's aggressive. That's what makes him a great player. He's got the size, he's got the touch. He's not a Chris Wilcox-type jumper, but he can really play basketball. When he's aggressive, that's the ingredient that all of a sudden helps shots fall and helps him block shots. He's always been a 3-point shooter and a great passer. And when those other things come into play, he's really a good player."

On Detroit:
"Detroit plays good defense. I didn't see many open looks out there. They had us well-scouted. And you have to break a team down sometimes. Detroit is too good for us to blow out and score 60 points in one half.They don't let you do that, they have too much pride. We were comfortable starting like we did, and then the offense got better."

On Drew Nicholas:
"Drew is fine. He played like Drew. I think he should make every shot. So when he misses I'm surprised. I see him do that in practice. He just needs to get a little more comfortable shooting the ball, and the ball will go down."

On 7-1 start:
"I would like to have not lost any games. But we ran into a pretty good Arizona team, and we didn't play particularly well. And we lost by four on a neutral court. We came out of a pretty tough situation against Princeton and we played pretty well against Connecticut. That was a good sign. And hopefully we're getting better."

Detroit Head Coach Perry Watson
Opening statement:
"I thought basically we played the No. 2 team in the cournty. They are a tremendous team, and what we tried to do was come in and give it our best shot and compete. I think we were our worst enemy tonight. We had 11 turnovers in the first half, we did a better job in the second half. But when you play a team like Maryland, on their home floor, and you give 11 turnovers in one half that turn into baskets, that hurts you."

On his team's performance:
"My hat's off to my guys for competing and going all the way down to the end. We think this kind of game is going to be a benefit to us because we won't play anybody as good as Maryland in this environment."

On Tahj Holden:
"He is probably going to be a key for Maryland if they are going to make a run back to the Final Four. Everybody knows about Baxter and Dixon, but if he can knock that ball down from the perimeter, and also give that interior defense, like he did tonight, then that is going to be huge for them."

On where his team stands:
"I think we are in a situation where we are trying to determine what we are going to do as a team. We can't have a situation like Thursday night, where we didn't play with the intensity that was necessary. We've got to play with intensity every time we step out on the court. We are still early in the season, we've played only seven games. I tried to get to the game 10 mark and see where we are and try to figure out a rotation and go from there."