Jan. 4, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

Head Coach Gary Williams
On tonight's game:
"The theme tonight was to try to come out and play aggressively for 40 minutes and really get our defense up. I thought we did a pretty good job given the situation of the game. Our concentration level was pretty good. It was good to get a lot of guys in there and get some people minutes that we might need on Saturday [at North Carolina], so that was very important. We'll see where that takes us. Now we've got plenty of time to get ready for the next game and we're looking forward to the challenge. [North Carolina] is a very good team down there on their court so we'll see how that goes."

On junior forward Travis Garrison:
"The seven rebounds are ... important for him. It helps every part of his game. He did the same thing for a while last year, he got into a lull [and] didn't start a couple games. But then he was back and was really one our best players down the stretch. Hopefully, he'll do the same thing as we get into the meat of the ACC season."

On sophomore center Will Bowers:
"Will knows he's going to play; I think that helps any player. I want him just to play the same way as he did tonight. He's active and when you're that big and you're active you can do some good things. We'll need his size as we go into the ACC. Hopefully he's at a comfort level and a confidence level where he knows he can get some things done."

On the play of the frontcourt:
"That was the most aggressive I have seen [Nik Caner-Medley] go after the basketball in a while, and I really liked that. I liked the way he handled not starting, coming out like he did. Travis was as aggressive as he's been. Ekene [Ibekwe] is funny. There he is with eight rebounds, but he gets his hands on a lot of balls. It looks like he's getting pushed around out there a little, but he still gets to the ball. James Gist goes in there and gets eight rebounds in a short amount of playing time."

Junior forward Travis Garrison
On receiving more shot opportunities:
"It worked out tonight, but a couple of those shots just didn't go down tonight. That's something I've got to work on and focus on the next couple of practices because it will be very important going to North Carolina."

On his inside game:
"Basically, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. I want to run the floor a little more, and I thought I got a couple of looks inside today. I think I've got to just go inside a little more than what I'm doing now because it will help me out in all the ACC games."

On his emotional play:
"I think I showed a little more emotion tonight. Obviously, emotion is really important when you're playing basketball. As long as you're out there playing hard, emotion comes with that, and when you're playing with that energy and intensity, it also helps the team out."

Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley
On where the team stands heading to North Carolina:
"We needed to play well tonight, and we need to play really well on Saturday. Anything we can do to take a positive step is very important, and just how everybody prepares, both physically and mentally for it. It's a tough environment, and we need to go in and play well. It's going to be a fast-paced game, but we're going to be ready and looking forward it."

On the team's free throw shooting:
"I think free throw shooting is all mental. When you're making them, you feel a lot better about it when you're going to the line."

Junior guard John Gilchrist
On the Terps' next game against North Carolina:
"We have to bump it up another level and play a full 40 minutes against Carolina. They have a strong team, and we have to come out clicking on all cylinders to play with them. We have to be tough on loose balls and tough on rebounds, and with free throw shooting. The little things are we need to start clicking on."

Sophomore forward Ekene Ibekwe
On entering conference play:
"Tonight was good because a lot of guys got an equal chance to play. The last game before we really start ACC play, and a lot of guys got to get in there and see what it's like before we head to Chapel Hill."

Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Milan Brown
Opening Comment:
"It was a tough night. It's always a tough night when you lose. ...We played with good energy. We hoped they'd look past us to get ready for [North] Carolina, but they did it the right way; they got ready for Carolina by playing us tonight."

On the game:
"I think we competed for the most part. I didn't think we competed for 40 solid minutes, but I thought we were more consistent in our effort than we have been the last two games. That was what we were really trying to get toward. We play a league game in two nights, so just the way they used us to get ready for a league game, we had to use them in that same fashion. From that standpoint, it was good to see some guys get out there, get after them and try to hang together. It's a tough situation. It's not easy to try to hang together and keep playing hard when you're down 30 [points]."

On tuning up for conference play:
"It's a tough situation. Probably [if] we had more days between playing a league game, we probably would have approached the game a little bit differently ... really try to slow the pace down because that gives us a better opportunity to hang with those type of athletes. But because our league game is so close, we do what we do, they do what they do, and hope that it turns out right. I thought it was better for us to just play the way we're going to normally play, rather than playing a different style, and then tomorrow [asking] 16 guys to switch back."