Feb. 27, 2005

Recap |  Box Score

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the end of the game:
""North Carolina had three great plays down the stretch by three great players. On the last play, we had a good isolation with Mike Jones, and Sean May made a great play. Mike played great in the second half. Our team played with a lot of heart in the second half"

On North Carolina:
"They're the No. 2 team in the country and I want our guys to believe they can play with that. But it takes a lot of work. If we play with the intensity we had in the second half I'm sure we can play with any team in the country. But you have to play for 40 minutes and you have to do it in practice everyday. That's a great team, but if you're playing at home it's one you have a shot at."

On the difference in the second half:
"Our bench got us back into the game. Sterling Ledbetter did a great job. Ekene Ibekwe came in and gave us good minutes. But it was James Gist who really got us started. He started in the second half and played with enthusiasm."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On the close loss:
"There were two good teams going at it. We had a chance to win the game. We played hard. That's all Coach Williams asked of us. Hopefully, we can take some momentum with us to Virginia Tech."

On the play of North Carolina:
"They played hard. They made open shots. They also made big shots and Sean May was a beast inside."

On a career high five three-pointers:
"Maybe it should have been six and we would have won the game. That's a personal accomplishment and it's the farthest thing from my mind. I'll be happy if we win the game, even if it means only scoring two points."

On the final regular season game next week:
"We want to win going into the ACC Tournament to get our confidence back up and to show that we can beat another good team."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On the tough loss:
"It's very disappointing, but that's the game of basketball. You win some by 20 points and you lose some by two. A win is a win and a loss is a loss."

On falling just short:
"Coach [Williams] emphasized throughout the week that everybody needed to be ready. North Carolina is a really good team and we showed tonight by competing with them that we can compete with anybody."

On the Terps' upcoming game:
"The last game of the season is going to be a dogfight, especially going down to Virginia Tech for their senior night. We need to go down there and play as hard as we can."

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
On tonight's game:
Tonight was a heck of a college basketball game. We had a couple of guys step up and make some big plays for us. We had a five-point lead, and they shoot and miss, and then make a three. Then we come down, miss a shot, and they make another three, and all of a sudden, we're down. I think that was one of the two key points in the game, and we responded after that. The first one was when they tied it up, and then we came down and scored on a set play. Then, Melvin hit his only three of the day to put us back up five. Then it got to that late stretch, and they took a one-point lead, and we came down and moved the ball around, and all of the sudden, Jawad makes the three. We go down to the other end up two, and I thought we had a stop again, but they got an offensive rebound and put it back in to tie the score. Then we scored with 41 seconds to play."

On Maryland:
"[Chris] McCray and [Mike] Jones made some big-time plays. McCray played a fantastic basketball game, and Jones made came in and made those threes."

On defensive strategy for last play:
"We thought they might run a `screen the screener,' but they ran it in reverse. They had the action going towards the corner, and we did a good job, and switched on it, and knocked it out of bounds. When it came back in, Jones tried to drive, and Sean made a big time block."

On Maryland's last offensive possession:
When you're only down two and you're at home, I don't know that you are necessarily looking to hit the one shot to end the game, as you might if you were on the road. I didn't tell our team to expect a three or a drive to the basket. I just told them to play good defense.

North Carolina center Sean May
On his critical blocked shot at the end of the game:
"Mike Jones got a clean look and I knew he didn't have enough time to pass it and I was able to come from the weak side and get a big block. It was the game-deciding play."

North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton
On Sean May:
"Sean is unbelievable. He played extremely hard on both ends. He does great things at the right time throughout the game. Everybody always thinks about his offense, but in my opinion, his defense won the game."

On his game-winning layup late in the second half:
"It was a big shot. It ended up being the game-winning shot ... I did it on the fly. Coming off a ball screen, it was open. I had a clean lane to the basket. Sean did a good job at clearing his man out so he couldn't get to me. It worked out well."