Jan. 13, 2007

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"After the Miami game, we talked about having to be a team, and how important it was to stay together. Through all of the criticism said after the Miami game I knew we were better than that. I took a lot of responsibility myself. We worked hard the last two days and tried to be a very confident team walking out on the court today. I told the team at practice on Thursday that even though we had shot 22 percent against Miami, it was a winnable game with two minutes left."

On Maryland:
"I see Ekene Ibekwe play in practice the way he played today. The guys coming off the bench - Eric Hayes, Parrish Brown, Will Bowers and Bambale Osby - make us a good team. When you can substitute like we did today, it gives you a lot of confidence. The freshman guards are doing well. Greivis[Vasquez] and Eric are learning against great players like [Vernon] Hamilton. Getting out there with the pressure on is the best way to learn."

On today's game:
"We did a couple of things to open up the offense. We were predictable against Miami, and we weren't today. The effort was better in every area of the court. You're not going to shut Clemson down. They're going to be scoring a lot of points, and you have to stay with them. The key to the game was the fact that we could rebound with them. There was no indication after the Miami game that would happen today, and that took a lot of willpower on the part of the players."

On turnovers:
"I don't mind turnovers when you're aggressive, and when you're trying to get other people the ball. As long as you're moving the ball around and trying to get guys open, you're going to turn the ball over some."

On Clemson guard K.C. Rivers:
"He's a great player because he can go inside and outside. He's clever. He doesn't look fast, but he gets the shot off. You think you have him covered, and then he's shooting the three. He really knows the court. There guards are really good, because they find him. D.J. was the main guy on him, but we tried to give him help behind him when he was playing Rivers so he could play tighter on him."

Maryland Forward Ekene Ibekwe
On today's game:
"We knew what was at stake. This game was the biggest game of our season. We knew that if we came out here and played hard and finished our baskets and made our free throws we'd be able to come out with the win."

On Clemson:
"Clemson is a pretty good team and we just wanted to come out and give them their first loss, especially at home. We just have to keep playing hard and we'll be alright."

On learning from Wednesday's loss:
"When you shoot 22 percent you definitely want to practice and really concentrate on taking shots that you can make. Clemson probably thought we'd be down on ourselves and they had all the confidence in the world being undefeated. But we played with intensity and confidence."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On team's shooting:
"You're not going to shoot 22 percent every game; that was kind of a fluke. We know we're a much better team than that and we just wanted to come out and show that today."

On his defensive play against K.C. Rivers:
"I got a lot of help in the second half. In the first half they set a lot of screens and our big men were kind of afraid to help because they were getting some slip screens. But I got a lot of help in the second half and I just manned up. Sixteen points is too many in one half and I just tried not to let him get anything else."

On importance of today's win:
"It was a must win for us. We needed this game; you can't lose games at home. We already gave one away at home, so now we really have to protect our home court. Now we have to go on the road and steal some there."

On Clemson:
"They never go away. They're a tough team, their pressure is tough. They have some good players, but I think we just wanted it more today. It was on our home floor and it was a must win. We played like our life depended on it."

Maryland Guard Greivis Vasquez
On team's aggressive play:
"The coaches told us, especially me and Eric, that we have to be aggressive. As long as you're aggressive you're going to make the right pass and make some shots. And that's what we did today. If we play as a team, passing the ball, we're unstoppable."

On moving forward from Wednesday's loss:
"It was tough, but we had to put it behind us. Now, we're 15-3 and we're in a pretty good position to be successful. It feels great to win especially to beat a team that was undefeated. That's a great win for us, but now we have to go to Virginia and take care of business.

Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell
Opening statement:
"As far as we're concerned the stat sheet tells the story. Defensively, we just weren't very good. I give Maryland credit for knocking down shots, but we gave up too many lay-ups and we really didn't guard them on the half court. When you do that, you're going to have a tough night. They beat us in every facet of the game, really."

On the team bouncing back after their first loss of the season:
"I'm concerned at the moment about it because we haven't had to do it this season. This is our first experience with that. My expectation is that we will bounce back and that we will look at this loss honestly and look ourselves in the mirror and look at the tape. We got away from who we are, which is a team that really values defending the rebound. You have to give them credit because they were aggressive and made shots. We're going to constructively criticize ourselves."

On Maryland's coverage of K.C. Rivers:
"D.J. Strawberry guarded him pretty well in the first half but K.C. got free and got us going. K.C. was back tightened up in the second half so he really couldn't do a whole lot. You've got to give Strawberry and company credit for creating a lot of attention on him. He got free towards the end of the first half and did what he's done all year long."

On whether the team came into this game caught up in their winning streak:
"No, they've been good about it. I can't say that that's the case. I think it's a situation where we didn't play real well. We had a fired-up Maryland team on their home court in the ACC on a Saturday afternoon. That's a tough deal."

Clemson Forward Trevor Booker
On the game:
"Losing is not a great feeling and we have to regroup. Some people might say that we are overrated now. We didn't play well on defense tonight. We struggled a lot. Struggling on defense is what killed us."

On bouncing back:
"We shouldn't have any problems. It should be hard, though. We spent the whole season undefeated. We have to regroup."

Clemson Guard K.C. Rivers
On his back:
"In the first half it was fine. I didn't think that it was stiffen up like it did. Once I sat down for a little period it started stiffening up. We tried to keep it loose but on the second half it started tightening up again and tried to stretch."

On the game:
"We have to get back to our identity and show who we really are. We have to get back to Clemson basketball. We had spurts but we didn't keep it up for the whole 40 minutes."

On Maryland's play:
"I give credit to Maryland. They shot the ball outstanding today. They had an off game the other night but they brought their A game tonight. They were highly motivated and highly confident."