Feb. 13, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes |  Photo Gallery

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On tonight's 99-92 overtime victory over Duke:
"I thought I was very fortunate to be on the sideline tonight to watch two teams play that hard. The competitive level for both teams was just incredible. That's college basketball - it's not perfect, it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be played like that. At both ends of the court, nobody gives you an inch. We're fortunate to win. Nobody respects their program more than me ... Great win for our school, great win for our players. The players never quit. There have been times this year when we could have, but we never have and never will. That's just us."

On junior point guard John Gilchrist:
"John has played well down the stretch the last couple weeks. I'm really happy for him because he struggled. We all struggle, but nobody quits. You just keep playing until you work it out. John had the courage to do that and he's been great."

On junior forward Travis Garrison:
"I think Travis has potential in there because he's really quick and he's got good feet. He's gradually finding out that if he combines his inside game with his three-point shooting ability, he has what few people his size have. He's a very good basketball player and I think he showed that tonight."

On sophomore center Ekene Ibekwe, who played despite a rib injury:
"That showed me something. This isn't exactly a game you might want to come back because you know there's going to be a lot of pressure and you're going to be going against really good players, so that shows me something."'

On the enthusiastic Comcast Center crowd:
"At the end of that game, I've never heard it louder. During the game, a lot of times you don't notice how loud the crowd is but at the end of the game when it was all over, I noticed how loud it was and that was unbelievable."

On sophomore guard Mike Jones:
"What Mike has done is become an all-around player and obviously that helped us. His defense tonight was really good. He was on [J.J.] Redick for a while when he had to get Chris [McCray] out there for a few minutes and he's just completely changed his game to be a complete player. He's been instant offense now the last two games. He did the same thing against Virginia Tech down the stretch to help seal the win for us. He plays with no fear. He's not afraid to drive and he's not afraid to take the shot if he's open."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On Maryland holding J.J. Redick to 5-of-19 shooting:
"We had to contain him coming off screens. We got a lot of help, especially in the first half. He tried to kick it to someone else, but we were there playing real good defense. It was big for us. Chris did a great job on him and whoever else played him did a really great job."

On Maryland's 46 points in the paint and drawing 31 Duke fouls:
"Duke likes to overplay the guards and forwards, so Coach told us anytime you see that, to penetrate and beat your guy. The main thing was to get Shelden [Williams] into foul trouble because he's a huge factor."

On scoring eight consecutive points to close the Duke lead from nine to one:
"We stayed confident that we could do it. With the team we had, nine points doesn't seem too difficult to overcome. I didn't really realize what was going on, and that I scored all eight points. I just knew whenever I had a smaller guy on me to take advantage of it."

Maryland Guard John Gilchrist
On the play of Daniel Ewing:
"He's a good scorer. He had a very good night tonight. The toughest thing was to try to run around with him and then try to run the offense for my team, and look for opportunities for myself. I had a big load tonight but I just do whatever I can to help the team."

On the emotional win:
"I was just going. Any opportunity that I saw, I tried to seize the moment. I'm exhausted, but I'm so happy and overwhelmed that I can't describe it. I left it all on the floor."

On what the win means:
"This was a huge step in the right direction for this season. It's another notch on the belt of Coach Williams' great career. I'm just happy to be a part of it."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On the challenge of playing the late game:
"We stayed focused all day, because we knew that all of the students were going to be here and that ESPN College Gameday was going to be here. By the time we got to shoot around, everybody got up for the game."

On hitting 10-of-10 free throws:
"That's one of the things I can do to help my team. I'm a good free-throw shooter. Whether it's a pressure situation or not, I have to step up and make my free throws."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On moving to 6-5 in the ACC:
"It feels really good. It was a big win for us. This team is right where we want to be. We have momentum and we have to build on it."

On beating Duke:
"They're a great team, and they gave us a real good game today. We had a total team effort, everybody played well. I don't think anybody didn't play well. To have a win where everybody feels good about it is really good for the team."

Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
On the game:
"It was a tough loss for us. I thought our kids played their hearts out, especially in the second half and overtime. It was an unfortunate loss. Maryland played really hard and well. It was a disruptive game for us."

On the key to the game:
"The key to the game was how often you could go to the free throw line. They were able to make strong moves and get to the line and we didn't."

On Maryland's play:
"They're good and good teams play well against other teams. They're a very good basketball team and they played with high energy and purpose tonight."

On the atmosphere of Comcast Center:
"The fans were behind their team. There was a lot of energy in the building and I would comment positively on that. It helped their team and they have really good fans who do that, and that was a plus for them tonight."

Duke Guard Daniel Ewing
On the game:
"It was a tough game, I thought our guys fought very hard and gave a winning effort to win this game. Unfortunately for us, we were in a lot of more foul trouble than they were."

On playing against Maryland:
"Over the last couple of years, it has been a big rivalry between us. Both teams get up to play each other, so it is going to be a tough game every time we meet. Both teams have good players, both teams always get up for the game and it is going to be a pretty good rivalry."

Duke Guard J.J. Redick
On the game:
"It was frustrating. We were definitely at a disadvantage missing five of our main players. They just had more overall athleticism than we did in the overtime because they still had their main guys."

On the second half:
"There were a couple of key moments during the game where I felt if we would have gotten a few key stops or a bucket we could have pulled away. Give them credit, they had a great effort. They really fed off of their crowds' energy."

On Chris McCray:
"Chris is a good player. They really do a good job when I come off screens of sending their big guy out and filling the middle with their point guard. He is a good individual defender, but he also gets help from the big guys and the point [guard] dropping off of our point."

On Maryland:
"The one thing that I think they hurt us on both times we have played them [this season] is offensive rebounds. They have done a really good job of crashing the boards and we haven't been able to come up with enough key defensive rebounds."