Jan. 3, 2004

Recap| Box Score| Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"I thought overall we did a good job -- there were some tough matchups for us defensively. The Mount comes to play, they always have, and under their new coach they do the same thing. They play hard and if you make some mistakes they take advantage of them."

"I liked our intensity level in the second half. I thought we did a better job of really going after it. I think it caused them some problems with our depth. What we have to do now is to get that for 40 minutes and we will be OK. We put together sequences when we play really good defense and run a very good offensive play and really get on the glass. We have the ability to be a good team, we just have to string those sequences for a longer period of time."

On how to get his team to play more consistent:
"You keep working and you go hard in practice. You have to duplicate as close to game speed as possible in practice. We have 10 good players who can do that, but we need all 10 in practice every day working that hard. It's hard sometime with players because for a lot of them coming out of high school they haven't had to practice maybe at the intensity level that they do at this level."

On Ekene Ibekwe:
"That's how good he can be. He's very close to 6-10 and he's very quick with it. What he doesn't have is a lot of strength, but that will come. He has that little different gear at that size that not a lot of people have."

Maryland Sophomore Guard Chris McCray
On coming back from a loss:
"We really went at eachother in practice this week. They played us real tough down there so everyone came back to practice and worked real hard. It was good to get that loss of our backs. It hurts because it was our first ACC game but it was nice to come back and get the win."

On the balanced Maryland attack:
"With the way that our team plays, any player can lead us in scoring. It was me in the first half today but then other players took over in the second half. We have a lot of guys who can contribute."

Maryland Senior Center Jamar Smith
On his rebounding effort:
"I try to keep our defense going because that's what is helping us to win games so far. I just try to rebound as many as I can. The more defensive rebounds you get, that's the less chances they have to shoot. Offensive rebounds help to put points in the basket."

Maryland forward Ekene Ibekwe
On today's game:
"The most important thing is that we learned. We got a good win in this game today and we're going to work hard to try to get a good win against Eastern Shore. That will help us feel better as a team. I think with our talent and defensive tenacity, we can beat any team in the ACC. We're going to come in and play hard to try to get our first ACC win."

Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Milan Brown
Opening Comment:
"I thought we battled in spurts. We didn't sustain our energy for a long enough period of time, and then we played hard but we might not play smart, or we played smart but we didn't play hard. We played in spurts, and we can't do that against a team like this. It's tough enough as it is."

On the Mount's field goal shooting:
"[Maryland] did a good job defensively. We had a couple open looks, but they're so athletic that all of a sudden an open look turns into a huge contested shot. You can't simulate that in practice."

On guard Antonio Johnson:
"I knew he'd be amped up and ready to play. We have five or six guys from Maryland, and I knew they'd be the same way. I know, as any of us would, you want to play well anytime you play against someone you know, especially when it's family. (Johnson is the cousin of Maryland's John Gilchrist)."

Mount St. Mary's guard Antonio Johnson
On leading his team in scoring:
"Play hard. Just play hard, trying to stay focused. Trying not to make any turnovers. Just have fun playing against my cousin."

On playing against his cousin, John Gilchrist:

"I was hyped up for the game. All our family was here. It was like a family reunion. We just wanted to have fun. Go out and play hard against each other."

On struggling from the field:

"It's a hometown game. A lot of us were excited to be playing in front of our families. So we were a little hyped up...a little too hyped up. We got out of our rhythm, out of our scheme. That's what I think it was. It was a little bit of fatigue. They (MD) are big... they get up and down the court quick. It was a new look. They are ACC... it was just a different look for us.