March 11, 2007

Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

Opening Statement:
"I have felt good with this team all year in terms of their work ethic even in January when we did not have a good record. To go from there to the seed we got today is very gratifying for our program and for our guys that have worked hard. For the seniors, this is very important for them and I am very happy for those guys. Here we go. It could be a little cold in Buffalo, but we are playing inside the last time I checked, so it is okay."

On Maryland's seed:
"I think we earned it by our play; we have won seven of our last eight and our league was rated the best league all year. I think our 10-6 record in league play is probably the biggest reason we got the fourth seed."

On Davidson:
"We did play them a couple years ago in the NIT here and I've known Bobby McKillop a long time. They do a lot of good things and shoot a lot of threes usually. That is how they like to play, spread the court. NCAA is always interesting because you get styles you haven't seen in awhile maybe in your league, so you have to make adjustments very quickly in a lot of those games. We are looking forward to it."

On preparation this week:
"We have plenty of time to prepare. My whole focus is on Davidson and getting ready for that game. Just like during the season, you never prepare for the game after the next game. It's the same way in the NCAA tournament and I think that is the best way to handle it."

On competition in the NCAA tournament:
"I really concentrate on the games that we play. If a game is on I'll watch it, but I don't watch other games with the idea that we might play them at the end of the year. I just look at who we play next and try and find out as much as I can. You don't have time during the season, you really have to focus on each game."

On the team's attitude:
"They have been great. They have responded well all year no matter what the situation, that's not going to change. They were very happy to be the fourth seed. I think that's the big thing. I think we did a good job in our conference."

On Selection Sunday:
"I felt pretty good all day, we had a good practice. I was a little anxious about our seed and where we would be, but it is a good feeling to know you are in good shape."

On the newcomers going into the NCAA tournament:
"We won't do anything different, we will just get ready. They had to play their first college basketball game. Every team nowadays has freshmen who play. We are no different than anyone else. We will just get ready to play. We had 24 wins so far this year and hopefully we will continue to play well.

Maryland Forward Ekene Ibekwe

On succeeding in the tournament:
"We just want to play hard. We know what type of team we are and how hard we can play. We're really happy that we got the four seed, so we have to just keep playing well to move on."

On focusing on the Davidson game:
"We know that we can't look past anyone. Davidson is another team like us that wants to win some games and go far in this tournament, so we can't think about what might come next. The tournament is all about effort. If we come out and play our game, we'll be alright."

On the strength of the ACC:
"It feels good. The ACC is the toughest conference in the country, and it feels good to be a part of that. It's just good to be back in the mix. It's been a long time. I'm happy for the guys, and we just need to go from here."

On memories of the 2004 NCAA Tournament:
"It started with winning the ACC Tournament. We played UTEP in the first round, and it was fun to be out there in Colorado in the arena where the Nuggets play. It felt good to be a part of a program that was capable of going to the tournament, and we're back to that point. We definitely made strides this year, and we're not stopping now. We just have to keep on winning."

Maryland Guard Greivis Vasquez

On the feeling of being in:
"It felt great to be a four seed and to make it to this tournament. I'm proud of all my teammates. We were confident about being in the tournament all day, but we know that we still have to get some work done. We have to come out ready to play hard."

On making the tournament as a freshman:
"As freshmen, I think we did a pretty good job this year helping to get this team to the tournament. I'm happy, but I'm not satisfied. I'm looking forward to winning some games in the NCAA tournament and finishing a great freshman year."

On what it will take to succeed:
"We've been talking all day leading up to the Selection Show about how we have to be tough during this tournament. We have to be mentally tough and go out and play with the emotion that got us here. We're looking forward to getting to the Final Four and winning a championship."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry

On making it back to the tournament:
"I'm happy to be seeded as high as we are. We're ready to play and we're just excited to be back right now. We just have to get focused and correct some things. It was exciting just to hear our name called. I've been waiting for this since this time last year. We worked hard and we played well at the end of the season and I feel that we deserve to be where we're at right now."

On the team's game plan heading into the tournament:
"We're going to have to focus on how we play and I think that's how we got into that seven game winning streak at the end of the season. We really weren't focused too much on anybody else; we were focused on what we can do to win games and what we can do to improve as a basketball team."

On what the team needs to work on:
"Our rebounding and our intensity. We've been bringing a lot of intensity into practice these last couple days. We need that because that's the way that we play. I think our intensity and our energy wins us basketball games sometimes. We have to bring that back."

On his experience in the tournament:
"A couple of guys on this team were on that 2004 team that made it to the tournament. We won our first game and lost our second. We know what it takes to win a game in the NCAA tournament. We could've won the second game if we had done some things differently down the stretch. We're just focused on us and we're excited to be back."

Maryland Forward James Gist

On making it to the NCAA tournament:
"I can sleep good tonight knowing that we're not going to the NIT, that we're going to the NCAA tournament. This is my first time going so it's going to be really exciting."

On the team's reaction during the Selection Special:
"We were just waiting to see where we were going to be seeded. To be in the first bracket, that was a little shocking. It was a relief and we were just waiting to see who we're going to be playing."