Dec. 14, 2002

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement: "In the first half I thought we did a lot of things right, except they got 12 points on second shots. That really hurts in a close game, because we did some good things defensively to take them out of their 3's and stop them from penetrating. I thought at halftime we could talk about it and get it shut down but they came out with probably more energy than we did in the first few minutes of the second half. They got a little lead there, and they seemed to be able to maintain that. We did some good things to get back in it, and we were right back there. There were a couple of crucial plays where we had been scoring in a certain way, and we took a shot that wasn't the same shot in that situation. There were times when we were right there around the rim to tap it in and it didn't go in. When you are at home, you don't expect to only shoot 36 percent from the foul line. It's pretty tough to take when you shoot at least 50 free throws a day in your home gym.

"I was really impressed with two guys coming off the bench. I thought Calvin McCall did a good job giving us energy. And John Gilchrist going against really good, veteran guards did a very good job for us. He was very strong with the ball. I was really pleased to see that."

"In a game like that, we shoot a better field goal percentage [than Florida], as good a 3-point percentage, and both teams are playing good defense, so it's not going to be really high [scoring]. But we did those two things and kind of lost it on a hustle play."

"The second shots, the loose balls, were all really big...You have to look at it and figure out a way to get those balls and figure out a way to keep teams from getting second shots. Last year we had some great athleticism on the team, and each year the team is different and you have to find different ways to do the same things."

"We have two weeks with one game, and hopefully we can find some things out."

Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan
On playing Terps on the road: "We knew that this would be a tough place to play. They had a great homecourt advantage, great fans, a great environment. For us to come in here and win is a great thing for our kids and our program.

On the Gators' early schedule: "We found out a lot about ourselves. Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh, what those guys have gone through the first nine games of the year, they have really learned a great deal about themselves and what they can and can't get away with. I think David is emerging into a guy who feels more and more comfortable knowing what to expect. I think we get good leadership out of our seniors, but I think there is no question our experience of playing at Florida State, at West Virginia, in New York, and coming here, I think that's just going to get us better and better prepared as we get ready to go into the SEC."

On Maryland: "Maryland is a good team, a lot like ourselves. They're probably finding their way a little bit. You look at the three guys they lost, they lost three pros. You have to put it into perspective with their basketball team. They got good players there right now. But like us, you have players from Maryland trying to step up and fill new roles. We have players on our team who are trying to step up and play new roles, as well."

On Steve Blake: "The problem with Blake is not necessarily the scoring, I felt very comfortable to let Justin create problems for Blake scoring-wise. The thing is, he has the ability to make everyone around him better. It's the assists that kill you. It's when he gets the ball to Randle or Holden or Drew Nicholas, and he gets those guys open shots, it makes the game easy for them. I talked to Justin and told him it's just as important to take away his scoring as it is to take away his passing. And I think Blake only had one assist in the second half. And that's what we tried to do. But Blake is such a good player, it's very, very difficult just to completely take him out of the game."