Dec. 13, 2006

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"I was really proud of the team's intensity level. This was a tough night to play given Sunday's game [at Boston College] and that exams start early tomorrow morning. I thought the guys did a great job focusing on the game. That's really important, because if we don't get off to a good start like we did, you don't know what can happen in games like that. James Gist had 11 rebounds; certainly he was a force out there. You get a guy going like that on the glass and everyone joins in. I liked our defense. We didn't let up. Whatever we were doing, I thought our intensity level was good the entire game. That's a good sign to have that maturity; it doesn't always happen in games like that."

On the changes to the starting lineup:
"You don't know if that made us play well early. I think the guys that didn't start came in and played hard; it didn't affect them. You're just looking for a way to play the best you can. I think the team responded well."

On guard Mike Jones:
"Mike was tremendous from the three-point line. The guys did a great job of finding him. I really thought UMKC came in trying to take away anything inside and did leave some things open. Mike was really getting good looks, and he was in a great rhythm tonight. It just seemed like everything was flowing. He got some really good passes from our guys, and it really made a difference. That's good for Mike, but that's good for our team too because we have some pretty good shooters, and certainly that helped tonight. When Mike's on his game, I don't think anyone shoots it better. He's as good as shooter as there is."

On guard Greivis Vasquez:
"I think he wanted to get everybody involved. Greivis is a smart player, he saw Mike Jones was as hot as he was and Greivis wanted to make sure we didn't pass up Mike Jones. When you get a guy passing like Greivis was early it's contagious. That's how you get 14 assists in the first half. There's going to be nights where he has to shoot. Tonight he didn't have to shoot. That's really unselfish what he did tonight."

On committing only eight turnovers:
"To score 101 points and only have eight turnovers, that's really good. We have to prove we can handle the ball like that. I thought we were a lot tighter on the ball; in other words we weren't sloppy on passes. You have to do that in the future too."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On his shooting performance:
"It started in practice. I took some extra shooting practice this week, and I missed my first few shots, but I knew that I just had to keep taking them. Whether I missed or I made them, I knew that I had to keep taking open looks."

On the team defense:
"We knew coming in that they had some good players. We knew that guys like Quinton Day were going to make some good plays, and he did make those plays, but overall I think we did a really good job on defense."

On playing well in his senior season:
"I'm just trying to take advantage of the situations on the court, and I want to play good defense. I think that if I can keep playing solid defense, that will lead to offense. I just want to go out and have fun, and I did that tonight."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On the game:
"That was fun. That was what we wanted to get back to, just going out and having fun. The last three games, we haven't been doing that. If we had the energy we had tonight, we would have won. We just wanted to get back to playing the way we had been at the start of the season, and I think we did a good job early on."

On facing zone defenses:
"We knew we were going to get some open looks tonight, we just had to knock them down when we got open. Mike [Jones] got us going, and the rest of us just chipped in. We moved the ball well tonight and got open shots."

On the play of Jason McAlpin:
"The way he played today is an everyday thing for him in practice. Today he got the chance to transfer that into the game. He shot the ball well, and I'm happy for him."

Maryland Forward Ekene Ibekwe
On coming off the bench:
"It was coach's decision, and I just wanted to go out there when I got the chance and perform well with my teammates. The important thing is that we got the win, and we'll move on from there. I know that coach wanted to try some new things, and we just had to go with it. He knows what he is doing, and the important thing is that we got the win."

Missouri-Kansas City Head Coach Rich Zvosec
Opening Statement:
"I appreciate Coach Williams's compassion tonight. I know he doesn't normally play 2-3 zone [defense] so when they did that, it slowed the game down a bit and I appreciate that. We couldn't take either the inside or the outside away. What you're doing is trying to pick your poison; we got both tonight."

On the team's road trip, particularly tonight's game at Comcast Center:
"It's the end of a long haul for us. I think the kids were looking forward to it. I thought we were ready to play, but we allowed our defensive intensity to be dictated by our offense. That is why we struggled so much, and Maryland just took it to us."

On how the team benefits from a game like tonight's:
"The biggest thing I take from it is that it helps me find out who is going to understand the value of defense. It will help us as we get into our league [play]. Other than that, I'm not sure what else you can take."