Nov. 22, 2003

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Coach Gary Williams

Opening comments:
"We tried to get out [into] the passing lanes, bother them and upset their timing and we were able to do that. We can see the offense is coming along a little slower than the defense. You can get by on defense if you just work hard sometimes, but on offense, the timing, catching and shooting ... have to fall into place."

On the 31-point margin of defeat:
"The reason it was lopsided was because of our defense. We can draw some positive things about our defense from tonight. I didn't think our offense was that great tonight, but we did a good job defensively. We didn't go into this game thinking it would be lopsided. With our team this year, we didn't know how we would play so it was a big game for us. The score got a little crazy."

On the play of the frontcourt:
"Our front line is pretty good. We had 28 rebounds out of our starting front line, so that was good to see. Now we just need help from more people."

On the play of freshman Mike Jones:
"That was the purpose of getting him in there, giving him the chance to relax and take a few shots. He's getting good looks, which is important. He has the ability to get open, so I think his shots just go into the goal."

American Coach Jeff Jones

On his teams' performance:
"Well we didn't shoot well tonight. But it wasn't just about that. It is about the mental and physical toughness. They came out and attacked us. The same thing happened two years ago. They came out and jumped all over us early and we didn't have a response. We tried talking about it and saying nobody expected us to win and just have some fun. Well we didn't. Its was not just missing shots, even though we missed a lot. You really have to compete against a team that is as hungry as Maryland.

On the Terps' defense:
"The loss was a combination of [Maryland's defense] and us just throwing the ball around. I noticed it on film that their defense, in terms of execution...is not where it has been in the past few years. But with young players that is to be expected. From an outsiders' perspective, this is Gary's most athletic team. But you cant come away from this game and say that Maryland is a great defensive team, because we stunk. But they have the personnel and the mindset, I think, that will allow eventually to be very, very good defensively.

Maryland Player Quotes

Nik Caner- Medley
On Maryland's rebounding:
"I think that we rebounded the ball a little better, than it would have made our defense a little better. We forced a lot of tough shots and they got a lot of second shots. I think the score would have been a little more lopsided than if we rebounded a little better."

Jamar Smith
On Maryland's offense: "They played zone all game. In the high-low we're working the ball because every time we got the ball to the high post, they all collapsed on us, leaving the low post open.

Chris McCray
On the team:
"I know there's been a lot of question marks about our team this year. We had question marks about ourselves, but we got a lot of positives and negatives out of the exhibition games."

American Player Quotes
Andre Ingram
What Coach Jeff Jones said at halftime:
"The key thing that was said [at halftime] was not to give up. We obviously had a bad first half, a little worse than we expected. We just wanted to show heart and play hard. We just didn't want to give up."

On refocusing:
"We just have to execute better. We got a little bit out of our offense. We couldn't hit some shots. We have got to settle down and player hard. That is all we are going to do. Coach will have us ready and we will be okay by next game.

On starting to score earlier:
"It is just something I have to consistently work on and eventually work on. I do have to improve that though. It has taken us way too many shots to get started. I am just going to continue to work hard in practice and keep shooting."