Dec. 28, 2005

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

On the game:
"Delaware State has a style of play that they were very successful with tonight, and they deserve a lot of credit for the way they played. We saw how important it is to start the second half well. I think we got a lot out of this game."

On reaching 550 career victories:
"I'm proud of what I've done as a coach, but at the same time I don't get caught up in it. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that the longer you're in a place, the more games you're going to win. I've been here 17 years, so I know what to expect."

On the fast start to the game:
"The locker room was very positive at halftime. I was very pleased with the way we came out quickly. A lot of good teams don't do that. We did a great job of coming out ready to play."

On the play of Ekene Ibekwe:
"He had a great first half. They couldn't stop him after a while. Ekene has really improved. He's a much better basketball player than he was this time last year. I'm proud of him because he's worked very hard to get there, especially on his shot. I'm happy to see him get double-doubles, because I think he can do that against a lot of teams. That's where he should be as a basketball player, and I've always felt that as his coach."

Delaware State Head Coach Greg Jackson

On tonight's game:
"I thought their defensive intensity in the first 11 minutes caused us a lot of problems. We didn't make shots and we got away from our game plan. Anytime you only score 13 points in the first half, you're not going to give yourself a very good chance to win."

On Maryland's game plan:
"The difference in the game was Maryland's defensive intensity and trapping in the first half. I think they realized that they had to step up their defense in order to get out in transition like they wanted to. I thought they did an excellent job in the first half, but we were able to make some major adjustments at half time and we did a better job in the second half."

On fighting back from big deficit:
"I think our kids really learned something from this game. Anytime you come and play a team of this level with so much tradition and you come away losing by only 14, you learn something. Tonight showed me that we're a team that doesn't quit. Down the stretch, their talent took over. I thought our kids showed a lot of character. We gave ourselves a chance and that's all you can ask for when you come in and play a team that is on this level."

Senior Nik Caner-Medley

On his play against Delaware State:
"I was trying to play hard and be aggressive. I tried to help get us off to a good start and set the tone. When we're aggressive as a team and getting loose balls, that's when we're at our best, so I was trying to contribute in that way."

On playing the full 40 minutes:
"I think we have high expectations for ourselves and what we say before every game is that we need to play 40 minutes and get better. We feel like in the first half we played very well, and in the second half we played very poorly. If you want to be a good team, you have to have a sour taste in your mouth and realize that there were a lot of things in the second half that we could have done better."

On having a well-rounded game:
"All year I have tried to do what Coach [Williams] has wanted me to do. The one thing I didn't do early in the year that I am doing now is scoring. I've tried to work on a lot of other things and stay positive, and I feel like I am playing better defense and rebounding better this year than before."

Junior Ekene Ibekwe

On his double-double:
"I've been getting on the boards and being an inside presence for my team, and I'm going to continue doing that."

On his improvement from last year:
"I'm putting a lot less pressure on myself. I'm playing basketball and having fun. I'm playing hard, and when you play hard you feel good about it."