March 15, 2002

Recap| Box Score| Photo Gallery

Head Coach Gary Williams' opening statement:

"This was a little different for us watching the games for two days and then finally getting a chance to play. I think there was some pressure on the players whether they will admit it or not because you keep hearing that a No. 1 seed had never lost to a 16 seed and we were the last No. 1 seed to play."

Head Coach Gary Williams on Siena:

"We played a team in Siena that was really on a roll. I watched the tapes from their playoff games in their conference and a couple times with the Alcorn State game and they were playing with a lot of confidence. They found the combination that they wanted. I thought they would come out here and play well tonight and they did. We had to work, which is good because we don't expect any free rides."

Head Coach Gary Williams on continuing to get better:

"You have to keep trying to get better even though you are in the NCAA. I have always felt that way. We got better every game we played last year and we want to do the same this year."

Head Coach Gary Williams on Juan Dixon's play:

"Juan is a marked man and when you go into games other teams try to stop him first, especially on the perimeter. We have to find ways to get him open and I thought the other players did a great job of giving him some screens. When a shooter makes a couple early it seems to build momentum for him and Juan took advantage of that."

Maryland senior guard Juan Dixon on setting the tempo early:

"That was my goal coming into tonight's game. Our goal was to set the tone on defense in the first five minutes. This is my last time doing this and I want to know that I went out being aggressive."

Maryland senior guard Juan Dixon on Siena:

"I think Siena is a pretty long team. The have the leading scorer in the conference on their team. Those guys really try and they have good shooters and a good point guard. They were able to get good looks. I think that's why they were able to keep it close early."

Maryland senior guard Juan Dixon on facing Wisconsin:

"They have a real good halfcourt defense. On offense, they move a lot. They have a great shooter in Kirk Penny and I think they are going to run him off a lot of screens. Hopefully we can hold them to one shot and get out on transition."

Maryland junior guard Steve Blake on the pressure coming out as a No. 1 seed:

"There was some pressure. There are a lot of good teams out there. I knew that if we just played our game we would be alright, so that's what we did."