Feb. 25, 2003

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
"We were concerned coming into tonight. Any time there is senior night, it is a little bit of a different situation before the game. We had really struggled down at Clemson, shooting 34 percent. We were lucky to win [the previous meeting], really; we played about five good minutes. I thought our seniors did a great job getting the game started after the ceremonies and everything. We got out to that big lead, but I think we relaxed. Clemson is playing with some confidence now; they had won three in a row in the league coming into tonight. It was anybody's game at halftime.

"I just told our seniors [at halftime] we had 20 minutes to play. That's what we had left in terms of playing at home, and they responded. Steve Blake -- it just seems whenever we need him he's there for us. It's not just been this year, it's been a career thing with Steve. When we get into a tough situation, he's there for us. I like the way all of our seniors responded to the challenge Clemson gave us.

"For Calvin McCall to do what he has done is really important. It was the one position where we didn't really have anyone to play there from last year. He's really filled a void helping Nik Caner-Medley. He's kind of a mentor to him in practice and games, and talking to him on the bench -- the things that go unnoticed. Cal has just been a great citizen on our team.

"Our seniors had a lot put on them this year because of what happened last year; people didn't think that they could be any good going into the season because they played roles for us last year. And they turn around and they've got 18 wins with two games left. I think that's a tremendous accomplishment. All of those guys have the championship ring; they'll always be remembered for that. Whatever they did this year is important, but they played on a national championship team. Those guys have their own goals for this year, and they've not finished what we want to do yet. I think that's a tremendous thing for those guys to have that kind of character.

"Tonight we really shot it well, and we really passed it well against North Carolina. Tonight we got the ball to guys who were open and drilled them for 3's. I think Steve Blake got that started at the start of the second half. That just seems to relax everybody when one guy fills it up. Then Drew really stepped it up.Our guys were nervous the first half, but the second half we just relaxed and played. The offense was good, but you hold a good team to 21 points in the second half....you get a lot of your offense on breakouts because you play good defense."

Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt
"We hit a tidal wave in the second half and a barrage of 3's. The disappointing part of that was they were open 3's. They were in transition, over helping in some cases, and some pretty good passing by Maryland. Nonetheless, they were wide open 3's. In fact, the only contended 3 I remember was that clutch by some guy at the end of the game, and he missed. But they made them, and clearly that divided the game and separated us light years away.

"We only had five turnovers in the first half -- two completely different games. We possessed the ball well in the first half, and I think they had five offensive rebounds for the game. They made so many 3's, and then made so many layups. There weren't a lot of offensive rebounds. Their tidal wave started when Blake hit those three 3's that really separated a seven- or nine-point game to what would be a 17- or 18-point game. When he knocked those 3's in it almost opened the floodgates. Guys that hadn't made shots all night started to make shots. And that's to their credit.

"I'm very disappointed in the second half.

"Maryland seemed very similar both halves. The first half they looked like they had a hop in their steps, and down 30-13, it took a pretty good defensive effort on our part. I thought we were giving them one shot and one shot only the last seven or eight minutes. Now modestly put, the second half they did the same thing, except they kept going. The difference being they made a bundle of 3's.

"We have a lot of difficulty matching people's points, especially if they are making 3's at the time, because we are not a 3-point shooting team. It kind of multiplies that separation."