Jan. 9, 2002

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"I thought our defense keyed everything tonight. We were able to get the tempo that we wanted. When you work really hard defensively like we did tonight, things open up offensively. Especially Juan in the first half. I just thought we were very athletic tonight. It was good to see Lonny back in shape all night. He should be back in time for Georgia Tech. "

On Steve Blake:
"Steve Blake played a good game both offensively and defensively. When he plays like that, he's really valuable to us. It makes our offense easier to run."

On North Carolina's youth and Maryland's experience:
"We have a veteran team and they struggle with some young guys. Sports are tough like that. I was on the other side my first three years here."

On his team's stellar performance:
"You never expect it. Let's face it, we probably shot the ball better than we have all year. Everything went right tonight. I've said it before, when we shoot the ball and rebound well, we're pretty good. And we did those things tonight."

North Carolina Head Coach Matt Doherty
Opening statement:
"What can I say? It was a very difficult experience. It's hard to imagine that there are some better teams than Maryland's basketball team. I thought the way they shot it, the way they pressured - they just swarm you and they are so big and powerful. They are a very good basketball team."

On his team:
"We've got a long way to go. The biggest thing for us is to stick together and work hard and stay as positive as we can. This is a very difficult time and these are some difficult games."

On the schedule:
"With this league, the schedule doesn't care. It doesn't care that we've got a tough one on Saturday at Virginia."

On how a game like tonight tests a coach's mettle:
"It is very hard to say after games like this that it could be worse, and it could be. There are a lot of people [out there] worse off than me and our team."