Jan. 15, 2008

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On tonight's game:
"I was really proud of the team. We had two days to get ready and we worked really hard, harder than you normally work between games when you only have two days to prepare. After those first two minutes, we were really fighting the whole way and that had to be a characteristic of our team. We just got after the ball and worked really hard and that's what you have to do to win games. I thought nobody pushed us around out there tonight. We stayed tough. I'm very pleased with the way we played out there tonight. It wasn't pretty but we're not going to do things exactly right. We just have to make up for any mistakes we might make with effort and I thought we did that tonight."

On players that stepped up tonight:
"Guys like Jason McAlpin came in and gave us some good minutes that we needed. Adrian Bowie has been playing well with eight rebounds tonight and a couple of key steals. Bambale Osby has really done some big things, especially in the rebounding area and he gives us a way to score inside, which is really important for us this year. Hopefully Boom is on the right track now and is ready to go the last month and half of the regular season."

On freshman Adrian Bowie:
"Eric (Hayes) was averaging 35 minutes a game so you have to get those minutes from somewhere. Cliff (Tucker) did okay, but Adrian just keeps coming along. He just gives a little bit more energy out there right now. We're still working on some things with Adrian, but I think he's got a chance. He's proven that he's got a chance to be a very good player in our program as time goes by."

On the team's defensive play:
"We held Virginia Tech to 35 percent from the field and tonight we held Wake Forest to 34 percent, so we've been playing good defense. We were just a little better offensively when we had to be. We were more aggressive. Getting the ball inside is the key. Boom being able to score in there just opened some things up."

Maryland Senior Forward Bambale Osby
On playing with more intensity lately:
"Coach Booth, coach Williams, and I have had meetings about the offense during the week. We've talked about staying focused on these being my last 14 games. This is my last go around. I'm a senior and I just want to help the team as much as I can."

Maryland Senior Forward James Gist
On the importance of getting the first ACC win:
"It was good to get our first win. I felt like we should have won our first two games and be 3-0, and if a few plays went the other way we would be. We just need to keep pushing. We can't get down on ourselves. It's all about getting confidence in the team, getting this win, and preparing for North Carolina."

Maryland Freshman Guard Adrian Bowie
On his thoughts when entering the game with the team down 7-0 :
"I was just thinking about bringing energy, first on the defensive side of the ball, knowing that my offense would come. The team looked flat so I just wanted to bring some energy and try to win the game."

Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening Statement:
"We were looking at the film and it looked like we had good looks at the basket. So I was in a little quandary when we weren't scoring the ball inside early. I think after the Boston College loss those kids showed a lot of character. I thought we played hard. We've got some exhausted kids in the locker room which I'm proud of."

On Wake Forest's production in the first half:
"At halftime when we were 2-for-15 and I'm meeting with the coaches, we saw that they weren't making shots. We tell them if they're open then shoot the ball."

On Wake Forest's defense:
"I think that our post defense wasn't good in the second half. We didn't show hard enough on the ball screens to bounce them out where our defender could angle back on Vasquez."