Nov. 19, 2004

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the game:
"I was pleased with our defensive intensity overall. I thought it was pretty good in the first half when we were struggling to score. In the second half, we created a lot of offense through our defense because we were able to get into transition. We are a really interesting [team] right now. We have some guys that are stepping up, it is not just five guys. It is something that we are looking at in trying to find the best rotation."

On the first half:
"We came out in the first half and we were jump-shot happy. In other words, we were not willing to look inside like we did in the second half. We scored 93 points tonight, shooting 30 percent in the first half. The reason why we shot such a poor percentage in the first half is because we went outside before we looked inside. It took us into the second half before we really looked inside."

On the play of Travis Garrison:
"I thought he played great tonight. He was alive too, not just with the ball going in the basket, but he was very active. [Since] about halfway through last season, he has really stepped up his game, and hopefully it will continue."

On the team's intensity:
"This time of year, you better play hard because you are going to have to play hard very quickly here for 40 minutes if you want to win. You have to practice that and the best way to practice that is against somebody else. That is why you want to try to keep the intensity level up. You don't get any better if you just relax after you get up by a lot."

Maryland Forward Travis Garrison
On the feeling in the Terps' Locker room:
"Everybody is excited. This is our first game and it counts on our record. We're 1-0. I'm real excited about that and I know the other guys are too. We have Mercer on Tuesday and Memphis on Friday. We have to keep it going in practice and then keep carrying it over to the games."

On the Maryland defense:
"Getting our defense up to par was a main focus tonight. We know we can score. We have to go out and play tough defense. If we do that and come out with intensity and energy, there aren't too many teams that will be able to stop us."

Maryland Guard John Gilchrist
On getting teammates involved in the offense:
"My role for this team this year is to do whatever it takes for us to win. Getting my team ready to play down the stretch is going to be huge, especially for our big guys. I know I can get my shots off any time. I don't really search for my shots. I do it for the good of the team."

On maintaining intensity throughout the game:
"It shows that we're progressing from our exhibition games. Sometimes during those games, we let our guard down like we did during some of our games last year. It shows the maturity of our team. We're realizing what it takes for us to be a good team. We need to have that mentality that we can stop them every time and we can score every time."

Maryland Center Ekene Ibekwe
On the Maryland press:
"Coach Williams is always stressing defense. Our team is long and athletic with guys like DJ, Chris and Nik to press, and me, James, and Travis behind them. That's what Coach wants, for us to play defense with intensity."

On the offensive philosophy:
"Coach stressed playing inside-out at halftime. We relied on jump-shots in the first half and only shot 30 percent. We should go inside first and then allow our perimeter players to get open. That's how we need to play."

Jackson State Head Coach Tevester Anderson
On tonight's game:
"This is a good game for us, to come up here and learn about how they play in ACC country."

On Maryland's defense:
"Maryland is big and strong, and they wore us down. When they stepped up their defense, we got tired, and when that happens, you don't shoot as well."

On Maryland's ranking:
"They have good players, they're a solid team. They're big, and they're strong. They should be a Top-10 team. They're better than a Top-15 team."