Nov. 18, 2005

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the game:
"It was a good game today. Fairleigh Dickinson came to play. I thought we did a great job passing the ball, especially in the second half. We were really unselfish. When they changed defenses, we were able to pick up on that, and that's a good sign for this time of year. Defensively, we really took it to them in those first ten minutes of the second half. The bottom line is that we had a lot of guys make great efforts tonight."

On Fairleigh Dickinson:
"I'm from New Jersey, so I know the state pretty well. [Fairleigh Dickinson Head Coach] Tom Green is a great coach. He's a coach that other coaches watch to pick things up. They won their conference last year and are picked to win the conference again this year. They have some great players, some that could play for us."

On the point guard play of D.J. Strawberry and Chris McCray:
"D.J. is a little more aggressive with the ball, but he hasn't had as much experience at the position as Chris. Chris has played there some in each of his four years here. D.J.'s learning, and I like the way he's going at it. But we're the type of team that can rotate guys through. Neither one of those guys has to be at the point guard position to be effective for us."

On 81% free throw shooting:
"I'm very pleased. If you're aggressive and go to the basket like we did, you're going to get fouled. You just have to make the foul shots. It's nice to get fouled, but you have to make the shots. We really stopped any run that they would have had in the second half by making those shots."

On the inside play of Ekene Ibekwe and James Gist:
"They've looked good so far, but we still have a lot of work to do, as do all the guys. They have worked hard, though. Ekene has worked on his shot and James has gained about 12 pounds of upper body muscle."

On the importance of the seniors:
"If you say something to one of them, you don't have to explain it. They know what you mean and how to get it through to the other players. We've been big on that this year, that more things have to come from the players than from the coaches. We have to help each other. Seniors know when you're playing good defense or not, and they can appreciate a good play. Gini [Chukura] drew a charge, and the players appreciate when guys do stuff like that. That's a good team"

On the upcoming Maui Invitational:
"The Maui Invitational will be great for us. They have a lot of top teams that might not be at the peak of their games, but they're trying. We're all trying to get better, so it should be a great tournament."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On his all-around effort:
"Coach Moxley and Coach Adams work with me every day, especially on my shot and ball handling. In the second half, they told me to go out there and do everything, have fun and to play the game to the fullest. Look for your teammates and score."

On playing point guard:
"I'm comfortable playing point guard. I got extended minutes at point guard last year. I have been working hard at it in practice. Hopefully, I can continue my streak with no turnovers."

On the team's outside shooting success:
"Our outside shooting has been great in practice. Even when we miss in practice, we are putting up a lot of shots and have been really competitive against each other to see who wins shooting drills."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On the Terps' defensive effort:
"Good defense wins games for teams, and that's what we did in the second half tonight. We stepped up our defense."

On competing in the Maui Invitational:
"We've got a long trip ahead of us, but we're excited. As a player, you look forward to playing good teams that match up well against you."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On the Fairleigh Dickinson game:
"We played hard, and everyone contributed, grabbed rebounds and played defense. When we play hard, our confidence level goes up."

Fairleigh Dickinson Head Coach Tom Green
On tonight's game:
"Today was only our third game of the season and we made a lot of mistakes. Maryland's pressure defense really caused us a lot of problems, more than what we expected. Maryland has an excellent team. I have a vote in the Top 25, and I'll be voting them pretty high this week."

On Maryland's team balance:
"Having six players score in double figures is a sign of a quality, veteran team. We may not be the world's best defensive team, but we're not the worst. For them to shoot over 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point line is certainly a tribute to the type of team they have this year."

On Maryland's 19-4 run to start the second half:
"We knew the first five minutes of the second half were going to make or break us, and it definitely broke us. They had that huge run on us, which pretty much took us out of the game."