Jan. 24, 2007

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"Against Virginia Tech we played very hard, but as hard as we played we didn't get the win. I told the team after the game we have to play hard and things will go our way. We shot the ball better tonight and that enabled us to get the win. Georgia Tech had proven that they are an outstanding team from the teams they have played already. They are a good basketball team and that makes this win special. This one tonight was very important for us but it was not life or death. If it were life or death we would not have been able to play; we would have been too tight. We just came out and played tonight; after the Virginia Tech game, our message was that we need to play like that the rest of the year."

On Dave Neal:
"Dave Neal was very big in the second half with his inbounds pass. He was big for us against a team who can press like Georgia Tech. With their quickness and style of shooting it was important to keep the momentum going, when we were pretty deep in foul trouble, with our big guys."

On Mike Jones:
"Mike Jones played like a senior tonight. In other words he did not score a lot of points and did not have a lot of shots, but he was real solid defensively and grabbed some good rebounds for us when we needed it."

On the win:
"It was a good `team win' because we did not get great performances out of some of the guys we depend on, so other people had to step up. Will Bowers gave a real good defensive effort the whole time he was in there. James Gist played very well but he was in so much foul trouble, you didn't know how much you could use him. Bambale Osby really picked up his game in the second half and that is a great sign for him to be able to do that when he did not play up to his standards in the first half. It was a team effort, it was great to see and hopefully we can play with this intensity in practice the next couple days."

On James Gist:
"He was finishing tonight. He was more aggressive taking the ball to the basket. He is so quick that when he does that he is going to get fouled because he is just like a blur in those situations."

Maryland Forward James Gist
On bouncing back from a loss at Virginia Tech:
"I had a look at Virginia Tech [to win the game], and it fell short, so I've been kicking myself about that. I've been in the gym ever since then practicing and getting ready for Georgia Tech. We knew that we have played well on the road the past few games, but we needed to come out here and get the win at home."

On establishing an inside game: "After the Virginia Tech game, I just said to myself that I had to be mean out there and do what I had to do to establish an inside presence. The coaches talked about us getting that inside game going and getting some of their guys into foul trouble, so I tried to go inside as hard as I could."

On Georgia Tech: "They are very physical inside and defensively. I would put them up there with the physicality of Clemson. We know that every time we play Georgia Tech, it's going to be a war."

On his improved shooting: "I've been doing a lot of shooting in practice, and Coach Williams has given me the green light to take some longer jump shots if they are open, as long as we're getting good shots in the offense."

On the upcoming schedule: "We know that we really have to focus on going to Florida State on Tuesday. A win on the road would be really good for us, and hopefully we can get a few more from there and then take care of business at home."

Maryland Guard Eric Hayes
On James Gist:
"I was attacking and trying to find the open man whenever I could. James got hot and I started looking for him, and he did a really good job finishing tonight."

On the importance of the win:
"We knew that it was a must-win game with two road games coming up. We needed this one to get some momentum for the game at Florida State on Tuesday."

On establishing the tempo:
"We ran good offense and took good shots today. We took it hard to the basket and got to the foul line a lot, and we were able to shoot our foul shots very well."

On opening up a big lead:
"We played good defense in the first half, especially. We ran the offense and got good shots all night, and got a lot of big offensive rebounds."

Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement:
"I was very disappointed with our effort. Obviously, I'm not getting through to these guys, especially when we're down early. I thought there were three or four crucial breakdowns and mental mistakes when we had a chance to put some heat on them. The most disappointing part of it is that [the poor effort] came from our upperclassmen. Missed rebounds, traveling on the baseline in dead ball situations, not diving on loose balls; it's almost like it happened in succession. I'm obviously not getting through to them. That's the bottom line."

On the early deficit:
"Their pressure rattled us, we didn't execute against their press offense, and then we started to back down. I thought we did a nice job to get back in the game, but again, there were times that we could have gotten back to single digits. We had three or four opportunities to do that, and we didn't capitalize, and they stretched it back out again. As far as what caused that deficit, we obviously weren't prepared."

On the team's road woes:
"No, that doesn't get to me. What gets to me is when we don't play with much pride. In the ACC, it's very difficult to win on the road. There's a reason we lost three or four close road games last year and a very close one this year. Until we find a way to finish it off - and that comes back to coaching - this will continue but we are going to keep working on it and we will fix it."

Georgia Tech Forward Jeremis Smith
On the game:
"They played their game and they were victorious. On the road you can't expect to be down 20 points and to be able to get back in it. I know we had some great comebacks against Hawaii and Memphis, but that isn't basketball. It's not reality."

On what the team needed to do to win:
"We just had to play hard. There are certain things that you have to do to win, and if you do them, you could be up 20 points the other way."

Forward Thaddeus Young
On how Maryland pulled away in the first half:
"We just kept taking quick shots because of the shot clock, and quick shots can lead to bad shots."

On their road game losing streak:
"I don't think it's frustrating, we just have to come out and play hard. We just needed to play hard and that's what makes us a team. Tonight, it just wasn't there for us."