Feb. 24, 2002

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"To win a game against a top 25 team like Wake Forest in that situation, where they did a great job coming out and stuck it right to us and we were able to rally in the second half to get it back -- that's a great win for us. A lot of teams wouldn't win that game. I don't care if it's pretty and I don't care what happened, we won the game and that's a tough thing to do in that situation."

On Wake Forest's start:
"The other team comes out flying and you're back on your heels a little bit, instead of being ready like we usually are. We learned a lot today and that's a great experience."

On honoring Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon before Sunday's game:
"When you look at Lonny as the only player to be MVP of a NCAA Regional here at Maryland, with all of the great players ... and you look at Juan statistically and what he's done and both of those guys have played on teams that won 100 games in four years, I think there's a pretty good argument for putting those two as the best tandem to play at Maryland."

On the time-out call that resulted in a technical foul:
"That can happen to anybody... That's just a natural instinct. Once the game is over, you feel for that situation because Wake played so well today. But that all goes into it, and sometimes you get a break and win. But I'll tell you what, we have a very good team, and we got close enough where we could take advantage of a situation like that."

On finally overcoming the deficit:
"I just told the players we were going to figure out a way to win the game. That's the best thing a coach can do -- tell the players coming out of a time-out, 'Hey, just stay tough and we'll figure out a way to win.' Of course, I hadn't figured out a way to win it yet, but I felt that and it sounds good to the players."

Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser
Opening statement:
"Maryland is a terrific team, they showed it. We're a good team, we just have to stay together and learn from it and try to play better the next game out. People have questioned this team all year... I'm convinced we'll be back."

On the play of Josh Howard:
"Obviously, we're not where we were in that game without Josh. I thought he played courageously playing as many minutes as he did."

On the time-out call that resulted in a technical foul:
"One hundred plays in a game like that are better [examples of] swing plays [that would have affected the outcome of the game]. He's cognizant of it and we'll deal with it, but that's basketball. I'd rather fix the problem than [assign] blame."

On the closing moments of the game:
"We missed a few shots and they missed a few shots. It was a heck of a basketball game. Our offense scored 89 points but we missed some opportunities. We had about a four-point lead and made three of four consecutive stops, and we didn't score. I think if we had scored [it would have] given us a little cushion for the last few minutes."

On the Terps' defensive strategy against Craig Dawson:
"I think the difference was, he got a lot of good looks against the press. His lack of looks was more of a function of them not pressing us, as opposed to who was guarding him, although [Byron] Mouton is an excellent defender."

On the disappointment of losing such a close game:
"I'm not a very good loser. Give Maryland credit. We're still fighting to be third in the ACC. There's about 300 teams in the country [who would like to be] third in this league. We've had dirt tossed on our grave before, but we're not done yet."