Nov. 30, 2005

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"The way we came back to get the score to six at halftime took a lot of effort. I thought we had a great stretch of basketball early in the second half when we played well enough to get the lead. We're growing. I think we're potentially a pretty good team because we've some ways we can go now where we're getting different combinations out there. I think this is the start of becoming a good basketball team."

On Travis Garrison's play:
"We had a couple guys who weren't 100 percent because of the stomach virus, but we did what we had to do. I was especially proud of Travis Garrison. He played every play hard. He did everything he could to get us going when we weren't going in the first half. He was outstanding. He got over 30 minutes tonight and he earned every one of them. He was great. It's nice to see a senior like that step up. When you talk about senior leadership, that's what you want, for a guy to go out on the court when you've got a couple guys nicked like that."

On Nik Caner-Medley's play:
"I think Nik is capable of really being a great scorer because he can go inside and out. I still think his best scoring days are ahead of him because he doesn't finish everything inside. He's going to get some inside chances because you have to respect his shot. He's a good enough shooter where you have to come up and play him. Nik has that ability to go inside out."

On D.J. Strawberry:
"He played well in the second half. D.J. has really improved as a basketball player. What he did in the second half was great. I thought he was a catalyst. He got the crowd excited. He got us moving. That's what he's capable of. He's a great guy. I've really enjoyed these three years watching D.J. I think you can always judge a player in terms of when there's adversity. What he went through with his leg, I really had nothing to do with the motivation to get him to work hard to get back after the ACL. That was strictly him, and it was amazing to watch how hard he worked out."

On the upcoming game against George Washington in the BB&T Classic:
"It was a big game tonight, first of all. National TV, Big Ten/ACC. [George Washington] is a big game. They beat us last year. That makes it a big game. We'd like to win it. BB&T has done a great job raising a lot of money for kids in this area. We're one of the charter schools, along with GW, and we're proud of our participation."

On the team chemistry:
"We went through some things last year that I think we all grew from, and it made us stronger in terms of working out in the fall to get ready to play. I like these guys. The chemistry is unbelievable. The way they treat each other, these guys stick up for each other, and it's just great to see."

Maryland Forward Travis Garrison
On the Minnesota rebounding edge:
"All five guys on the court need to rebound but as an inside guy, that's our main thing. I took that personally when they got a lot of putbacks and offensive rebounds. That really hit me to the heart. It's something we need to work on."

On a tough upcoming stretch:
"Beating [George Washington] is my main concern; that's the main thing. We owe those guys from them beating us last year -- especially when you see a lot of those guys during the summer, you have to have bragging rights. This is my last year to face GW and we're going to get a win."

On his first start of the season:
"I prepare myself regardless. You have to be ready whenever Coach Williams calls your name. I found out earlier in the day that I was going to start because James was sick."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On the comeback win:
"We've consistently played very well in the second half this year. They shot very well at the beginning of the game. We took their punch early and we came back and in the second half and closed it out."

"We stayed close enough so we could come back. Sometimes, teams are going to shoot the ball well. They did that in the first half. We continued to play hard and I think our conditioning really helped us because we had a little more in our tank."

On a Terrapin season-high tying 13 steals:
"Steals come from running around and playing with a lot of intensity. We're in great shape as a team right now. That's when it shows, when you can come back. We weren't playing bad defense, they were just hitting tough shots."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On his play tonight:
"I'm real confident in myself right now. I think I'm just starting to come along as a basketball player. The second half, I had to turn it up. I'm the emotional guy on the team and that's what I had to do. I felt that I didn't play to my ability in the first half, so I had to come and show what I could do."

On the huge start to the second half:
"That's how we usually do it in the second half. We start off so fast that they don't even know what's hitting them. They probably knew we would come out strong in the second half, but there's nothing they can do when we're getting steals and easy lay-ups."

On falling behind early:
"We were playing hard at first. We just weren't making shots. We were getting some easy shots that weren't falling. We weren't going to the bucket as strong as we could. But we wanted to win this game so bad and we knew how important the game was to us, so we did what we had to do."

Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson
On being ejected from the game in the second half:
"I tell my team you have to fight, but you have to do it with composure. I apologized to the three officials after the game and to my team. I feel like when they needed me to fight the most, I wasn't there. Getting kicked out of a game is a first for me and hopefully a last."

On the play of the Minnesota backcourt:
"For having four guards out [of the lineup] in a game that you need guards to make decisions, I thought Adam Boone did a great job on a one-man press break. I thought the freshmen did a great job at trying not to turn it over."

On Maryland's defense:
"Maryland is a very difficult team to play. [They put] a lot of pressure on your guards and certainly we weren't equipped for that tonight."

On Minnesota's offensive struggles in the second half:
"We had 20 offensive rebounds today, which is the good news. The bad news is that we also shot 25 percent in the second half, so you better go get some back if you're shooting that bad. It looked to me on TV that it was a rebounding drill in the second half: one pass, shot and a miss. I think our guys are playing hard but that wasn't very efficient."

Minnesota Forward J'Son Stamper
On the Maryland run after halftime:
"It was quick. Their pressure is amazing. They just came out there and were able to withstand the blows that we threw at them. We'll come back alright, though."

On winning the rebounding war:
"I was just fighting. Coach [Monson] told us that he wanted us to fight and battle. That was something we knew would help us. We rebound well as a team, and we're going to keep doing that."

Minnesota Guard Adam Boone
On the Maryland run after halftime:
"It got away from us awfully quick. You have to give them credit; they're a good team. We contributed to that a little, though. We lost our composure a little bit. They capitalized. They converted every opportunity that they had."

On the Maryland pressure:
"It's tough. They're one of the better pressing teams in the country, and they run a lot of different defenses. When we had only one true ballhandler out there, that made it really tough. Our guys did a good job of stepping up in roles they aren't accustomed to, but it's going to be tough to beat anyone in their place."

Minnesota Guard Dan Coleman
On the atmosphere of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge:
"This is a great place to play. Maryland has some great fans. It just adds to the intensity of the game that they were so into it."