Jan. 26, 2002

Recap| Box Score| Notes| Photo Gallery

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"The first half I knew we were tired, but that doesn't matter. You need to find the energy to play at the level at which we like to play. We did it in the second half. We caught Florida State in a very tough travel situation and we wanted to take advantage of that ... the intensity level increased. It is a statement for our team that we can pick it up after not particularly being able to find energy in the first half."

On the play of Juan Dixon:
"As time goes by I hope you all appreciate Juan Dixon, because he won't be here next year. I certainly do. He has numbers today but I'm speaking in terms of his playing level, which is contagious. Especially for a senior. It is hard to try not to duplicate the effort that Juan gives."

On the play of Byron Mouton:
"I thought Byron Mouton had that same energy today [as Dixon]. He did a great job for us flying around. He had four assists, 18 points, four rebounds and two steals. That's good. "

On Maryland's balanced attack:
"We have good players who are veterans. They know the offense and they know that the ball is going to come to them. We have guys who can step it up and score 25 points like a Juan Dixon or a Lonny Baxter. Having Chris Wilcox in there gives us another offensive threat, and Byron Mouton is talented enough to score in double figures. We have pretty good balance with those four guys, and then you look at guys like Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle, who are capable of scoring in double-figures on any night."

Florida State Head Coach Steve Robinson
Opening statement:
"For the first 10 or 15 minutes of the basketball game, I thought we played pretty good. I thought we did some good things, our execution was there, but we just couldn't sustain that over the course of 40 minutes. You certainly have to credit Maryland and what Gary does with those kids. They came back out in the second half and I felt they really stepped up their play. We turned over the basketball too many times to win on the road."

On the play of Juan Dixon:
"It seems like he's been here forever. Every time we play, it seems like he always plays great. I thought he was outstanding. Defensively he was very active, and he got some baskets when they had to have baskets. He's playing with great poise and making plays for his team."

On the Maryland defense:
"They forced us to foul a little bit and we never seemed to get into a rhythm. The game was kind of frantic early with the ball bouncing around all over. I thought both teams were very active getting their hands on loose balls. Certainly you have to credit Maryland and the job they did on the defensive end."

On playing at Cole Field House for the final time:
"You talk about the difficulty playing here -- it's difficult playing any place on the road. They have a great atmosphere here. I like the whole building. It reminds me of places like Allen Field House in Kansas."

On the play of Chris Wilcox:
"He reminds me of Buck Williams. He's got that kind of size and quality athleticism."