Nov. 23, 2004

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On tonight's game and the upcoming road stretch:
"Tonight's game was a tough game to play given the situation for our next four or five games. We know what's ahead of us. It's difficult with the crowd, with the way we approached things in the first half, to really get going. To Mercer's credit they played tough, and did some things better than we did. Now it's a matter of deciding what we want to be and how tough of a team we can be. We're not that far away, we just have to get everybody on the same page and we need to be a little more consistent, both offensively and defensively."

On sophomore guard D.J. Strawberry:
"I think we have a really good team with eight or nine players and D.J. is certainly an important part of that. He's really a starter that comes off the bench and he's on the court as much as anyone else. Tonight D.J. was a catalyst with his defense, but we need everybody doing things like that."

On junior forward Nik Caner-Medley:
"Nik had a nice run out there. I think he played real hard and had a good effort out there. He missed a couple shots but he stayed after it and didn't let it bother him. I think Nik sometimes gets down a little bit down if he misses a shot he thinks he should make but I thought his effort tonight was really good."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On his defensive intensity:
"That carries over from my freshman year when I had to play like that to get time on the court. We didn't need another scorer. I had to go out there and run around and try to get steals. That's something I kept from freshman year and if that's what my team needs for a little spark, then I have to do that."

On the upcoming match-up with No. 24 Memphis:
"It's always good to get a win going on to the next game. We've seen Memphis play on TV. They play hard so we have to match their intensity. The best team is going to win on Friday."

On the post-game message from Coach Williams:
"He was mad at our intensity on the defensive end. We have so much firepower on the offensive end. He wants us to play for forty minutes and once we get to that point, we're going to be a great team."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On his game-high 21 points:
"My teammates got me the ball in easy places to score. A lot of my points came from teammates doing a real good job. That's the thing about a team. You have to focus on getting each other some easy shots. That pulls your team together."

On the Maryland press:
"It was good thing for us to press a lot because it gave us a chance to really get in shape. I think we're doing a real good job with our early-season conditioning."

On being healthy:
"I feel a lot quicker. This is the first time since I've been at Maryland that I'm 100 percent healthy. That's the biggest thing. The last few years, I've battled injuries. Being healthy is the number one thing I'm happy about."

Maryland Forward Darien Henry
On his role:
"Sometimes I get a chance to go in and help out the team, and if not, I try to relay what I see to the other teammates who are in there at the time. I may have a different perspective from something that I see from the bench as opposed to what they see on the court where everything is happening so fast."

On his focus when on the floor:
"I'm always ready to play any time Coach calls on me. I try to pass the ball inside and look for my teammates and play good team basketball."

On the win:
"It's a good win. We had to make sure we got the win before we play Memphis on Friday and didn't overlook our opponent."

Mercer Head Coach Mark Slonaker
On Maryland:
"They're very good, obviously, and the pressure just wears you down. We have one point guard that we thought could play against them in [Damitrius] Coleman, but they fatigued him and just took the rest of us down. They're great. If they cultivate their bench, bring [James] Gist along, [D.J.] Strawberry's already a pretty good player, [Mike] Jones and the other guys come in and give them quality minutes, they're going to be a whole team to beat this season."

On Maryland's size advantage:
"We knew coming in we had to keep them off the offensive glass. You ask kids to do it, but they're so long and they're aggressive ... We felt like if we had open looks, we better hit them and take advantage of them, because if we didn't and they get their running game going [and] they get their rebounding game, they're very difficult to defend."

On playing against a big-time program:
"Every year, I try to play two ACC, Big Ten, SEC teams. It's great for our kids. You can't simulate that. Playing in this kind of crowd is just great for our kids. We average about 1,500 a game, so for us coming into this environment is great. We can take a lot out of this game. Last year we played Illinois, and Maryland tonight -- they both play so hard all the time. They're a quality team and [if] they're going to play hard whether they're up 18 or it's tight, then we sure can play hard. It's great for our kids to point to when they see a quality team and how they go about their business."