Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

March 26, 2005

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"In the second half, I thought we picked up our defense, and we finally stopped taking the quick outside shot. We got a little more patient with the half-court offense, and we did a good job going against their zone. That's one of the really good things in the NIT - you see a lot of different things...I like the way they play, they come after you....Mike Jones was great coming off the bench. Ekene Ibekwe has quietly made us a better interior defensive team. I was really proud of Travis [Garrison] today because he really had trouble getting started and he wound up with a double-double. Nik Caner-Medley hit some big shots down the stretch for us. It was a good effort. I liked our bench. With Mike [Jones] coming off the bench, we get a lot of points off the bench, but Ekene gives us eight rebounds and his points also coming off the bench. We had five guys in double figures again. I think Sterling Ledbetter's getting comfortable running the offense, knowing where the ball should go. It was a good team win in terms of picking it up in the second half. I thought our guys responded really well after getting behind."

On playing in the NIT:
"I didn't like the way the regular season and the ACC Tournament ended, so the opportunity to play, I never thought twice about it. I thought it was a great situation for us. I've used this for myself, watching guys in practice and see how they respond. This isn't the easiest situation for a player. If you're in a major conference, you have expectations of going to the NCAA [Tournament], and when you don't go, just look at some of the teams that lost that first round game in the NIT. I think that had a lot to do with it, just their expectations of making the NCAA. You've got to be pretty tough to be willing to practice middle to late March. We've done a good job in practice."

On the possibility of winning the NIT:
"Check who's won it. It's a big deal. I'll never get too big to play in the NIT. I've seen some great games in there. Maryland won the NIT Championship [in 1972] back when they would only take one team to the NCAA Tournament out of the ACC. Lefty [Dreisell]'s team with [Len] Elmore and [Tom] McMillen, that's probably one of the great all-time teams ever to play at Maryland....I think any player that gets a chance to play at Madison Square Garden is lucky."

On the importance of still playing in late March:
"We're really a good basketball program. We take a lot of pride in what we do. Because we didn't make the NCAA Tournament, I didn't think that was the end of the world. I think you look around and see who's made it 11 straight years, I think you can count them on one hand....This is an important stretch we're in right now, to play well this next week. We get to play as long as anybody in the country. Sure, two weeks ago we were disappointed we didn't get in the NCAA Tournament, but now we're where we are, and you make the best out of it. That's something I want the players to learn. That's how it works, not just in basketball, but when you get out of here. You make the best of every situation you can."

On Sterling Ledbetter's:
"If we said we weren't going to play in the NIT, Sterling never got that experience that we got today. Those guards as a group are really good. They're tough and they're physical. They weigh like 195 pounds and they bounce you around a little bit. You have to attack the press. I think [Ledbetter] only had two turnovers against the press. He's not used to seeing that. We didn't see much of that this year, and he didn't play a whole lot before the NIT. It's just really good for Sterling, and I think he's gained the confidence of the other players, which I think at that point guard position is probably as important as anything. They believe that if they get open, they'll get the ball from Sterling."

On the crowd:
"Crowd was great....The game that really impressed me was the Oral Roberts [first round] game because nobody had a chance to get tickets. I think there's a lot of people here who were really excited about getting the chance to see a game. These have been great crowds. They've been enthusiastic, they've been behind the players. We get behind, they keep pushing the players."

Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On his 16 second half points:
"I've been trying to run the offense the way Coach Williams wants it run and have been focused on taking good shots. In this offense, you have to be patient and let the offense come to you. I had some good looks in the second half and was able to make them."

On his confidence as a scorer:
"I've been able to score all year long. My confidence has never been a problem. In trying to focus on running our offense well, everybody has been making the extra pass. Coach Williams always talks to me about being patient and I'm really learning when to take shots."

On reaching the NIT Semifinals:
"We're going to New York City. I've never played in Madison Square Garden and it's always been a dream of mine to play there so it's going to be a good time."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On knocking down four three-pointers:
"Coach Williams stressed all week that TCU may play a little zone. They mixed up the defense a couple of times. Coach told us to take the opportunity that they give you. Take the shot if you're open, and if not look inside or to penetrate.

On containing the TCU offense:
"They're a good team. Their guards are outstanding, really good shooters. Our main goal was to focus on the three guards and keep their big men off of the offensive glass."

TCU Head Coach Neil Dougherty
On the game:
"We got into foul trouble, and we had to change some things defensively. We played much more zone than I ever would have seen us playing, and I think that slowed us a bit offensively. The three point shots--that's about normal for us. We don't really have a true low post game. We still were able to slip in there a few times, but it wasn't enough."

On Corey Santee and the TCU seniors:
"[Corey Santee] had a great run, it was pretty impressive. What makes it more so is that teams know about him coming in. He keeps finding a different way to get them. He's our all-time leader in scoring and second in assists, and he hasn't really played on any good teams except for this year. These [seniors] all came in at the same time, and I would have hated to bring [the `01-`02] team up here, but today, they did come up here--the same bodies--and they played very well. I'd like to see if there's another program that had as big a change in their four years as we did. They should be very proud."

On the Comcast Center crowd:
"I felt confident that the crowd wasn't going to affect us. One of the good things about Conference-USA is that you have to make a trip to Freedom Hall [Louisville], you have to make a trip to Cincinnati, and in addition this team has played at Allen Field House [Kansas], and it doesn't get much better than that. We were just concerned about Maryland's basketball team, and the talent that they have here. But [Comcast Center] is a great environment, and they've done some really neat things around here."

On the game slipping away late
"We turned the ball over. It's not the way I wanted it to turn out, but I think we had some tired kids out there. A fresh Nile Murry turns the corner and gets the ball in the rim and either scores or gets fouled. He didn't elevate the way he wanted to and tried to bail out with a pass, so now we had back-to-back turnovers at a time in the game where it was a one-possession game. Now you're playing catch-up."