Feb. 8, 2004

Recap| Box Score| Notes| Photo Gallery

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
" The key to the game was the way that [Tim] Pickett got off at the start of the game. We tried to keep him under control. We worked on some things since the Virginia game so we could play him better. He's real good. He's right there with anybody else in the nation in his ability to get a good shot off. He's a real tough player. At the end of the first half we tried a box-in-one that worked okay. Then we stuck to straight man-to-man. We were able to rotate in D.J. Strawberry with John [Gilchrist] a little bit."

On senior forward Jamar Smith:
"Jamar was real active on the court and was moving well defensively. He did much better rebounding and on offense. Sometime he stands around, but today he was real active. He did a good job and for us to get five guys scoring in double figures is good, especially after we struggled a little bit at Virginia."

On sophomore Travis Garrison:
"A lot of guys wouldn't react the way that [Travis] did after not starting. He worked hard and he started for his second straight game. He had double figures in rebounding today. He had some shots that he didn't shoot particularly well but he made up for it rebounding."

Maryland Center Jamar Smith
On coming back with a big game after Virginia
"I wasn't playing my game down at Virginia. I have to thank my teammates for playing well enough to get that win. I just had to come out and get focused for this game. That's what I did and I was able to grab 14 rebounds to help us win."

On the pace of the two halves:
"I like it when we play up-tempo. I like to run the floor and playing up-tempo helps us get out into transition and score a lot of points. Whatever pace it takes to win is fine with me though."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On Florida State Guard Tim Pickett:
"We knew we weren't going to completely stop him because he's a great player. We were trying to get as much as help as we could because he comes off a lot of screens. Chris [McCray] and I have too much pride for any player to score thirty points so we had to shut him down in the second half."

On playing a complete game:
"We're still working real hard to put together forty minutes strong. I think we did a pretty good job at that tonight. We played tough a lot more tonight than we have in the past. Forty minutes is real hard, because sometimes when you're out there you're tired but we have a good bench and we're working to get better at playing hard for a full game."

Maryland Guard John Gilchrist
On the play of teammate Chris McCray:
"Chris stepped up real big for us today. We needed big play from him to play well because the shooting guard is a very important position in our offense. We have been telling him to keep shooting and he was great today."

Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
On Maryland's aggressive play:
"We did a very poor job matching Maryland's physicality today. I think it's evident in the fact that they got 22 second-chance points. We knew going into the game that they were extremely physical on the offensive glass. Even though the rebounding margin may have been close at halftime, they had 15 second-chance points in the first half. That's just too many to give away... We were not very aggressive going up to the glass and I think that has more to do with the outcome of the game than anything."

On Maryland's defense:
"We had too many possessions where I thought we made poor decisions. That's a credit to Maryland and their preparation. They did a very good job of making us work for everything we got, and in the second half we just didn't get very much. It was a miracle that we were within striking distance late, when we had not played that well."

On what Florida State will take from this game:
"This game will help us. We'll learn from this game. That's one thing that's positive about this team. Whenever we've come up a little short, we have been able to grow from the mistakes we've made. I expect this team to continue to make progress as a result of going back and evaluating the things we didn't do well today."

Florida State Forward Adam Waleskowski
On the difference in the second half
"Tim [Pickett] was really helping us out in the first half, hitting a lot of big shots. I think they [Maryland] realized that and starting playing in the box in the second half. They started guarding him well, and everyone else wasn't really on. We had a stretch there where we were just putting up a lot of shots really quick. We should have been wearing them down, but we rushed things. It just got to us. Coach told us that they [Maryland] was leading the conference in rebounding, so we had to put a body on everyone. But they were able to grab a lot of rebounds and finish them, to their credit."

Florida State Guard Tim Pickett
On the second half:
"The first half I didn't force anything in. But in the second half, I couldn't get as much done. [Maryland] looked the same as last time. It was just a lack of execution on our part. We didn't do things that Coach told us to do. Being a senior, I need to lead these guys and execute, but today we just came up a little short."

On getting in foul trouble:
"It really made my game slow down a lot. When you're on the road it's a little harder. The referees called a good, fair game, but I had to be a little conservative after the fourth foul. It was a very physical game."

On getting hurt:
"I went for the loose ball and all of a sudden I was upside-down in the chairs. I felt a pinching pain near my tailbone. I wanted to keep going, but it really hurt a lot. I'll definitely be ready to go on Tuesday."