Nov. 18, 2003

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the exhibition game:
"There's nobody upset or worried. It's an exhibition game. Every team in the country has to work on some things. You couldn't do better than this game to learn some things. It was good for us. It pointed out some things for us to work on. It's good to find out before the games count."

On the difference between practice and games:
"It's different. You work harder in practice...you get to a point where you think you're doing something well, then you get into a game like tonight and you realize you're not doing it as well as you thought. Even when we won the national championship we were playing better in practice than we did in the games. But we were playing at such a good level that when we did slip, we were still playing at a very good level and that's not where we're at yet. We don't get that great play in practice yet where if we fall back a little in a game it's not that big a drop off."

On Maryland's defensive pressure:
"It was good but then we'd foul. We need to do it without fouling. That's when you're really good and that's what we're working toward. This is after a month of practice...maybe we'll learn that you can't foul while you're pressing."

On the team's offensive play:
"We thought we could win with jump shots. We made a couple early and probably thought it was going to stay that way. These [NBDL] teams have a way of knowing how to play; they weren't going to panic when they got behind."

Roanoke Head Coach Kent Davison
On his team's first half difficulties:
"I think there were a lot of factors involved . They had played a game and we had not. We were trying to find our way around the court and that difficulty was compounded by the fact that they want to beat the pros. I did this two years ago and played five Division I schools and every one of them came out strong likeMaryland came out. I thought it was going to be a long night."

On halfime adjustments:
"The last five minutes of the first half we started to rebound the ball a little better and they started missing some shots. We got the chance to run a little bit and we just got a little bit closer and really made it a game. In the second half, it went back and forth and things came in spurts. We just happened to make the right spurts at the right time."

On Maryland's strengths:
"I really like the way they push the ball. They really press hard on defense in transition. That's something [that is] really going to cause problems with other teams."

Maryland forward Jamar Smith
"We always play to win. It's hard to lose, but we have to regroup. We need to be patient and look for the guards. That will open up more shots. We just need to run the plays harder. Our team started off good, but we just needed to pick it up and we didn't."

Maryland forward Nik Caner-Medley
"It's better to learn from a game like this than to have it really hurt us when it counts. Exhibition games are important. They are not just supposed to make teams look good. If we wanted to look good, we would not have played an NBDL team. Those are all good players who are one step away from the [NBA]. We are trying hard while trying to get better. Now, we play American on Saturday and we are focused on them."