Dec. 12, 2004

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the team's performance:
"It's good to be playing at home. We're in a stretch now where we can do some damage at home. I thought we shot it pretty well today, we made some big shots. I liked the way we came out to start the second half. We played well enough the rest of the game to win."

On the team's success at the free-throw line:
"I think we should have a good free-throw shooting team this year. We've had some guys that have missed some, but hopefully that's behind us. You can get on a roll either way, and poor shooting certainly hurt us the last few games. Hopefully, today's a good sign for the rest of the way."

On sophomore guard Mike Jones:
"He had a lot of looks today, he had nine shots, and I want him to take all those shots. You're not going to make all the shots. Like all shooters, he's a streaky shooter. I want him to keep shooting in those situations, he's got to take those shots."

On sophomore guard D.J. Strawberry:
"He was great. D.J. can do a lot of things out there. He can make a guy change a shot, and there's no stat for that. He gets close to a lot of passes, which puts fear into the other team. When he shoots the ball like he did today, he's a pretty good combination basketball player. He works hard. We worked on his shot. That's where his confidence comes from. He put the time in shooting the basketball and he's earned the right to hit those shots."

Maryland Guard John Gilchrist
On the upcoming week:
"We're trying to do the academic thing and get on the court and do the ball thing. It would be better if we had an easier opponent but we have Florida State. They're going to come in for the first ACC game so they're going to be pretty fired up. We have to be ready to take care of business."

On scoring 20 second-half points after two in the first half:
"I go with how the team is flowing. If we're out there, everybody is scoring and the team is making buckets, then I take it upon myself to get us in our offense but the option of scoring is always there. It's natural to me to find my own shot. It's not that difficult."

On his hair:
"I shaved it off, one less thing to worry about during the season. It fees like a fresh new beginning. I guess you could say it made me quicker out there."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On the defensive focus:
"This week was a tough week for us because we gave up 100 points to George Washington. That's just not our defense. Today we emphasized coming in and playing tough defense and forcing them to take tough shots."

On his perfect shooting day:
"I'm trying to help my team any way I can. I play a lot of minutes so I have to contribute offensively too. That's what coach told me so that's what I'm trying to do to help my team."

On facing Florida State during exam week:
"From a mental standpoint, we all have to be ready to go when the ball goes up. We're going to go out there and try to get our first ACC win."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On the sharp shooting of teammates John Gilchrist and DJ Strawberry:
"[DJ] told me after he hit the first shot that he was feeling it. He was getting good shots in the flow of the offense. [John] is just a player. He makes it look so easy."

On balancing the next week:
"We have two days to prepare for finals and then after that it's back to basketball. We need to be able to come in and play well, regardless of the fact we have finals."

UNC-Asheville Head Coach Eddie Biedenbach
On the game:
"This is a great game for us. For our guys to be in the position we need to be in at the end of the season, we need to pay when we make mistakes, and the mistakes we made tonight cost us. We played a good Maryland team, a top 20 team that plays hard all the time."

"I thought that we did a lot of good things. We turned the ball over too much, but we've gotten better every single game. We've played six now, we're 1-5, but every one of those games we've [been] better. We're getting to the point that we're going to be a good team in our league, and that's what we use these games for. Of course we'd like to win, but coming here to Maryland ... it's just difficult."

"I told our guys we've got to play the game closer to the vest, and what I mean is keep the game in the 70s so we have a chance to win. We rebounded better, we did play better defense, but we didn't control the tempo of the game like I would have liked. We did execute fairly well against the press, particularly in the first half, even though we had six turnovers."

On the Terps:
"I really like the way Gary Williams coaches this team. He's done a great job here at Maryland. He's a wonderful asset to the university."