Jan. 8, 2003

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"I really didn't expect that type of game. We were ready both halves, that was the key to the game. We came out strong both the start of the first half and the second half. All of our guys were ready to play tonight. We didn't have a guy that went out there and didn't play particularly well, so that was important. Hampton might have been tired, they had a tough game with Howard Monday night. We shot real well, we passed well, we had 17 assists at halftime. Anytime we pass the ball well we are usually a pretty good scoring team. It is when we hold the ball too long that we get in a little bit of trouble. I thought our defense was really good at times, at other times we weren't as tough rebounding-wise as we could have been. But given the whole situation tonight I thought we did a good job."

On the first few minutes of the game:
"Our freshmen are getting comfortable in the starting lineup. They blend pretty well, we have experience at the other three positions. That helps us with our backcourt. They've been through everything in college basketball that there is to go through, so they know what it takes. I thought our guards looked really good early and were ready to play. Sometimes you need that from your veteran players; the other players see that and go along."

On being ready for the upcoming ACC stretch:
"I think we are as ready as any team. It's January, it's time to play, and we're looking forward to it."

On his team's preparations:
"We're working really hard in practice, we're putting in more time in practice than last year. We're trying to learn. The fun comes from playing well. That's the fun part. I really like our players. They are good guys to be around. I'm enjoying them. We've played one ACC game, so we're not celebrating. We still have to play real hard the next two months if we want to do anything this year."

On the play of Jamar Smith:
"He looked real quick tonight. I thought he really had his legs. He was really quick to the ball and covered a lot of ground. We see that in practice and it's great to see in the games. He's gaining confidence. It's just like Ryan [Randle] last year --- it's a gradual thing. Ryan didn't come in and just dominate right away, but by the time we got to March when he was on the court we were fine. Hopefully Jamar can give us the same thing as we get into league play."

Hampton Head Coach Bobby Collins
Opening statement:
"I've been here eight years and I've never been beaten by 50 points. They hit some shots early and we missed some shots, and it kind of took us out of our gameplan. We really wanted to do a good job of playing together and getting the ball inside and penetrating. But it didn't happen for us tonight. I thought they did a very good job of pressing us, and keeping us off of what we really wanted to do."

"Time and time again they [Maryland] really got out and pushed the ball and really took us out of what we wanted to do. We didn't do a very good job of taking care of the ball, we didn't do a very good job of transition defense, we didn't do a very good job of rebounding."

"A game like this I think they exploited our weaknesses. We've got to get back to the drawing board and see what happens."

"We've been in environments similar to this, playing at Ohio State, and we have a veteran crew along with some freshmen who know what to expect. We knew these guys were very good and very explosive. They took us out of what we really wanted to do."