Dec. 9, 2007

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"I was very proud of our effort in the second half. It would have been a very easy situation to fold up and move on, but we tried to win that game and I was very proud of our team. I was disappointed with the way we came out in the first half. I thought we had a chance to get a lead there at half time. We had situations where balls were being dropped. We have to be tougher than that. When we finally got going we were okay, but we had a deficit that we had to overcome. We gave it everything we had to do that, but we just fell short."

On sophomore guard Greivis Vasquez:
"He's been our leading scorer. It's a weapon that you need. He's one of our scorers so you miss that when he's not in there. I thought we did a pretty good job of making up for him."

On the team's offense:
"We didn't handle the ball well enough. We didn't run our offense well enough. You have to be able to take what you do in practice and put it into the game. We did that in the second half but we just couldn't do it in the first half. That's what the problem was. We just weren't good enough running our offense. We played good defense. They only scored 25 points in the first half. It was our inability to score."

On the team's youth:
"We're a team that's going to get better. We're going to have to work really hard to continue to get better as the season goes on. Last year we had six seniors; you're in a different place with your team. This year we're in a learning place. We're working very hard and I'm proud of the way they're working. Hopefully they'll continue to do that."

Maryland Senior James Gist
On tonight's loss:
"This is one of those games where you give your all but still lose. We've just got to keep pushing."

On momentum swing:
"I felt like the game was going to take a turn, but it's hard when you have such a young team. When you have an older team it makes it easier to say guys won't get distracted. I don't think our guys got distracted at all, but things just happen."

On Maryland's comeback:
"It shows this team has heart and we're not going to go away no matter what the situation. We're going to get better, and I can't wait until we put it all together."

Maryland Sophomore Eric Hayes:
On Maryland's performance:
"We showed a lot of heart coming back with the guys we had out there, and we had a chance to win at the end."

On Boston College's performance:
"They hit a couple threes and were hitting all there free throws all night. They had a pretty comfortable lead, and we had to fight back but didn't have enough to get over the hump."

On tonight's lesson:
"We have to start the game off better. We could have been up eight-to-ten points if we took advantage of all the opportunities we had. We just have to learn from that."

Boston College Head Coach Al Skinner
On preparing for tonight's game:
"The thing that we talked about and have been talking about is making sure we took care of the basketball on the offensive end; not to allow us to be hurried in our offense. For the most part we did that. There were times that we did not do it as well as I would have liked but for the most part I think we did a pretty good job. It was important for us to play at the tempo that we are comfortable with and get the shots that we want."

On playing in Comcast Center:
"The building is full. This is what ACC basketball is all about. These are the kind of environments throughout the league so it is expected. Guys are playing in this league because this is the kind of environment that they want to play in. They are playing for Boston College because this is the type of environment that they want to play in and challenge themselves to have some success. This is a good environment but every building that we go in we get the same thing."

On the final stretch:
"We did have a cushion but the only problem was that they were making 3-point shots and we were only making 2-pointers. It was a matter of handling ourselves and making sure that we did not find a need to be in a hurry. We wanted to continue to come down and execute and make them defend us. We had good free throw shooters on the court so I felt comfortable that we could make the foul shots and that was the most important thing. I think at times we had lapses defensively that allowed them to shoot some threes when we knew that is what they wanted to do and that is something that we have to be a little more alert to. With the cushion we knew that we could afford to be patient and wait for them to make mistakes, which they did not make down the stretch."

On the Eagles' team:
"We are young. I think guys have to believe in what we are doing and if we execute well we get what we want. It does help to have Tyrese [Rice] with some leadership on the floor; someone that everyone feels comfortable with. We knew that if he got the ball something good would happen. Everyone is comfortable in their roles and it is a learning experience. I think we learned some things today about ourselves and about how we should handle this type of situation. We are fortunate to win. I would like to think next time we will do a better job."

Boston College Junior Tyrese Rice
On the win:
"It's a great feeling to come in here and get a win. Any ACC win on the road is great, especially coming in to this building because I feel it's one of the toughest buildings in the nation to play in. I just thought that our freshmen really came in composed. They stayed relaxed the whole time, knocked down some shots and free throws at the end."

On if he wants the ball at the end of tough games:
"I always want the ball at the end. I feel like I shoot the ball well under pressure with free throws, so of course I want it at the end. Being the leader of the team, I had to show the way."

On Maryland's play after sophomore Greivis Vasquez fouled out:
"I felt like they kind of lost it for a little bit. They kind of got down on themselves then we went on like an 8-0 run. We knew that they would make a surge late because they have a lot of athletes and they love to press. The press got them going and they knocked down a lot of threes. They knocked down about six threes in the last minute and a half, but we stayed composed. We were getting twos while they were getting threes, so the cushion of the 10-point lead definitely helped us."

Boston College Freshman Corey Raji
On tonight's game:
"It feels good. I knew I had to come off the bench and produce, so I did what my team needed me to do. I hit free throws in the long run, I hit wide open threes; I just hit shots. When we came in for shooting, and my teammates thought I was joking when I said I was feeling it, and I guess it showed today because I kept making shots."

On the last few minutes of the game:
"Coach just said to be calm and to play defense. Obviously they got some good looks, but we didn't fold and we kept our composure. Down the stretch we hit our free throws and I guess that played a big role. Coach told us before the game that free throws win games, so we made our free throws and won the game."

On his first ACC game:
"Coming in to the game, the upperclassmen said it was exciting and that it was going to be noisy and that it would be really hostile. It was exactly what they said it would be, but we kept our composure and it was a good game."