Feb. 8, 2005

Box Score |  Notes

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

On tonight's game:
"We were looking for each other, and the timing was very good. Defensively, I thought we did what we had to do to win the game. [Virginia Tech is] very good because of their perimeter ability and their ability to put the ball on the floor. You have to find a way to try and control them on defense so they can't get to the basket. I thought we did a pretty good job. You're not going to stop them every time but we made them work for what they got. We had a pretty small lineup out there at times and we were able to rebound pretty well, which is good to see."

On the Terps' Smaller Lineup:
"[The lineup] might be that way for a while. I was proud of our inside guys. When Travis [Garrison] got in foul trouble, Mike Grinnon came in and did an exceptional job defensively, and he never hurts us running the offense. Mike knows the offense. He's been here four years. The offense runs very smoothly when he's in there. All in all, it was great. I thought John Gilchrist really ran the offense well. He was able to get us into the offense just about every time down. The biggest thing was our intensity level for 40 minutes. We never let up and we can be pretty good when we play like that."

On sophomore Chris McCray:
"Chris played very well the second half down in Miami, and he's continued his effort. Some nights when he doesn't shoot the ball well you have to watch what he's doing on defense. He usually has the other team's best scoring guard and that's tough to do: to be a shooter and still play great defense on a guy who's really good in our league. He's been playing well for us, especially the last couple of games."

On James Gist's first career start:
"I think he liked starting tonight. It looked like he prepared very well. Right from the start he was very active in the game. He's got really outstanding potential. It's going to be interesting this spring and summer to watch how hard he works because it's there. The player has to be willing to do that. We've had some guys really improve between their freshman and sophomore years."

On Saturday's upcoming matchup against Duke:
"We played with a great deal of emotion down there, and we need to do the same thing up here. But then there's a fine line where you can't go crazy. You have to be able to run your offense. Most of the emotion you can use on the defensive end of the court which is fine. You just have to play. We've been involved in a lot of great games with them over the years and hopefully it will be another one on Saturday."

Maryland Guard Chris McCray
On averaging 19.5 points over the last two games:
"Coach [Williams] told me to be more aggressive. I've always been a team-first guy, but he told me to even it out a little bit more and to look for my shot. That's what I'm trying to do now."

On the Terps 57 percent shooting in the first half:
"We ran good offense, especially in the first five minutes. That's where we had been slacking -- at the start of games. We played with intensity, we were getting the ball down low, and the big men were rebounding. We kept things balanced offensively tonight."

On how the team handled dropping back-to-back games:
"We're still positive. In basketball, you win games and you lose games. We've been losing games, but our future is in our hands. We have to keep playing hard and keep winning games."

On the play of Mike Grinnon, James Gist, and Will Bowers:
"They were doing all the little things, and also were scoring points when they had opportunities. I think they won the game for us."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On bouncing back with a big win:
"That was big for us. That win feels real good. It puts us in a real good position right now. It feels so good because we had so many people contribute."

On the play of Mike Grinnon:
"Mike Grinnon came out and played great. The way he played defense and the things he was doing for us like getting loose balls and diving on the floor was huge. He does so many little things that people don't see. He's such a good leader. That's why he's a captain. He's a great player and I think he deserves a lot of credit."

On returning to the Comcast Center for tonight's game:
"It was real nice to be home. On the road, you see other crowds, but ours is on another level. It helps us create energy. At home, we get hyped and that's a tribute to our crowd."

Maryland Guard John Gilchrist
On how to navigate the long season:
"It takes maturity and understanding. We can't get too high or too low. It can be hard to realize that. Consistency and how long of a season this is. It's a marathon and not a sprint. As a leader, you have to motivate for each game and each practice."

On the rest of the season:
"We have a lot of players that went through this last year. We understand that going on a late season run is critical. We can't get down off of one or two losses, because we can come back and win three or four in a row, and go on a run just like last year."

Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg
On the game:
"We didn't check anyone. It is that plain and simple. We did not take care of the basketball, 18 turnovers for us is disastrous. They had two players, Will Bowers and Mike Jones, come off the bench and shoot nine for nine combined. They did a good job of staying with their offense and they got the shots they wanted. I thought offensively in the second half we did a very good job of executing and being unselfish by making the extra pass. Once again we had two or three minute breakdowns, we cut it to four and they hit back-to-back three pointers."

On team defense:
"In the first half we got a little bit disoriented for about a two-minute stretch. We just didn't stay with it. They pushed us out a little bit and we weren't tough enough. The biggest thing is that we didn't do a good job defending when we needed stops. We had the game where we wanted in the beginning of the second half. When you are not leading, trading baskets is not a good thing. You actually have to stop and score when they are not scoring to make up the points."

Virginia Tech Guard Zabian Dowdell
On the game:
"We got it close a couple of times. We got it down to four once, but let them come down and knock down two straight threes. We have to be able to close out and keep playing strong."

On Guarding Maryland Offense:
"They ran a flex offense, which is a difficult play to guard. They got the ball inside a couple of times, and some of their guys were just a lot more aggressive than our guys tonight."

On Conference Play:
"Every game is important in this league because there are so many great teams. We want to try and position ourselves to be able to play in the postseason. Every game is very important to us right now."

Virginia Tech Guard Jamon Gordon
On Maryland Bench Play:
"We can't keep letting guys that aren't stars come off the bench and kill us. We won the first couple of ACC games by playing defense, but now we're getting big heads or something. We have to get back to guarding and playing our game."

On Defending Maryland:
"We just weren't playing defense like we used to. They did whatever they wanted to on offense, and that's how we lost."

Virginia Tech Forward Carlos Dixon
On Defending Maryland:
"They made good shots. [Nik] Caner-Medley made some shots. [John] Gilchrist made some shots, and [Chris] McCray and [Mike] Jones came in and made good shots. But, if we eliminate half our turnovers, we win the ball game or could still be playing right now."

On Conference Standings:
"We know we can play with any team in the league. We played Maryland hard tonight, but they still have to come to the Cassell. We've just got to come out and play hard every night."