Dec. 6, 2003

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On Gonzaga:
"Gonzaga is a good team. They know how to play. Their seniors certainly did a good job for them today. They make you pay for making a mistake defensively. I was surprised that we were able to turn them over 24 times. That's unusual for a Gonzaga team."

On Maryland's performance:
"We were able to get to the line, but the problem with that is that we are not shooting well from there and tonight was no different. When you get 27 free throws, you are doing a pretty good job on getting the ball close to the basket. We need to finish shots and make free throws. We didn't do that. We shot 4-for-20 from the three-point line and they shot 13-for-23. We didn't make ours."

On developing as a team early in the season:
"This year, we have to play very aggressive for 40 minutes to make up for some things as we learn how to play. We're working on that. We've played two good teams back-to-back, and now we have another test in getting ready in less than 24 hours to play West Virginia. We're learning some things now, and I think it's going to get tougher as we go along. We're in a tough stretch right now, but hopefully we'll get to where we are able to finish."

Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few
Opening Statement:
"Well that was a great win for our program. I think the thing that I am most proud of is we came in at half time and we challenged the kids to make some adjustments with how we were playing. To a man, they went out and did that."

"I think that goes a long way in showing the character of this club. I got after them a little bit at the half because I didn't think we played well or strong in the first half. We changed that in the second half. I think this is a win that is really going to help us. We learned a lot tonight."

"Maryland is really young and Coach Williams is doing a great job with how hard they play and with the problems they present with their pressure. With all the things they do on offense, it was hard to prepare. I think it is really going to pay dividends down the stretch for them."

On his halftime speech:
"I thought we were really soft. They poked the ball away from us about 10 or 11 times, man on man. I didn't think we were making decisions very quickly and we weren't swinging the ball. When we don't swing the ball, we are not very good. A lot of credit goes to Maryland for that."
"Gary does a great job with his pressure defense. I think we had 16 turnovers in the first half and we are not supposed to have that many in a game. And so to their credit they settled down and attacked us and were strong with the ball."

Maryland guard Chris McCray:
"We knew they liked to run and lob the ball up for the "trey" a lot. We started fine, but I guess we let up. We got tired. They kept running and they got their little run in the first half. In the second half, we came out flat and they came out flying."

Maryland guard John Gilchrist:
On Gonzaga's strong second half performance:
"They played good. I guess their veteran leadership showed today. Their guards stepped up, their big guys stepped up. The whole team played better at the end of the game."

Gonzaga guard Blake Stepp:
On playing on the east coast:
"We are not thinking about the [NCAA] tournament yet. There is still a long way to go but we know that we need to come out and prove ourselves, especially on the east coast early in the season. Because when we are in conference, we are strictly on the west coast. "

On his BB&T record-setting seven three pointers:
"When you start popping, you start feeling good and you begin to look at little more to get open on the break. Cory [Violette] and Adam [Morrison] were setting screens for me so it's hard not to get open with those guys trailing you down the floor. When the defense is rushing back, it's hard to find the shooters on the floor."