Jan. 2, 2008

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening statement:
"I thought we were ready to play early tonight and that was the key. Once we got to a pretty aggressive level, we were okay in this game. I thought we were making some strides toward being able to do that no matter who we're playing and we'll certainly find out Saturday at Charlotte. It was good to get a lot of guys out there to get some minutes. We're getting better, there's no doubt about it, and we're working hard toward that, so we'll see where that takes us. It will only get tougher from here on out, so we'll see what we can do."

On scoring off turnovers:
"You've got to find a way to score and I think our defense can be good enough where we can force points off turnovers. If that's got to be part of our game, then that's the way it is. If we're good enough defensively when we're on our game, then we can create some turnovers. I thought we did a better job as the game went on of taking care of the ball and making sure that we scored. We seem to get inconsistent sometimes, where we do get a steal and we don't get any points out of it. Tonight, I thought we did a good job as the game went on."

On the team's rotations:
"I like the starting lineup. I like the way we're coming out now and starting, so you'll probably see that on Saturday. Other than that, a lot will depend on practice Thursday and Friday. Shane Walker gives us a big guy at 6'10" that's really quick; he hasn't been able to generate a lot of offense yet, but he's done some good things. Dave Neal gives us that steady play. I thought Adrian Bowie, tonight in the first half, played his best defense since he's been here. He really was working hard out there. Cliff Tucker makes his great plays, there's no doubt about it. There are a lot of guys here, and we're just waiting for someone to take over in a situation."

Maryland Sophomore Eric Hayes
On what upcoming games against Charlotte and Holy Cross mean to the team:
"If we can get these two wins then it will help our confidence a lot. Both of these teams are good teams that can compete with the ACC, and if we can beat them then it will help our confidence heading into the ACC schedule."

Maryland Senior Bambale Osby
On what the team takes out of wins by large margins:
"For the last 15 minutes of the game, even though we had a big lead, Coach would call us over and tell us that it's the time we focus and work on our press breaks and the things we can't simulate in practice."

Maryland Senior James Gist
On the difference in the team's play since the loss to American:
"We're playing better right now. And as long as these guys understand how hard we have to work and what it takes to get where we want to be, then we'll be alright. Right now we need to keep pushing. We need to keep working hard and we can't get soft on these last couple games before ACC play."

Savannah State Head Coach Horace Broadnax
On the game:
"The word `Maryland' isn't printed on their jerseys for no reason. They play here in the ACC, one of the premier conferences in college basketball, and Coach Williams knows how to coach this game. The first four minutes of any games are where we have to step it up. The guys were a little bit nervous and sometimes it is frustrating, but we have to prepare differently. In these types of games, if we don't get out early, it can get ugly."

On what his team needs to improve upon:
"We need to be patient on both ends of the floor. When you take quick shots against teams like this, they better go in, and usually they are not going to go in. We still have a lot of games coming up this season, and we are capable of winning. We worked on some plays and some things defensively that might not help us against a team like Maryland, but they will be good things for us to be able to do later on."

On the play of Washington native Joseph Flegler:
"He is a hometown guy so I'm sure he was a little more energetic than usual out there. He made a few plays that got him in trouble in the first half, but he probably feels pretty good about how he played by the end. Hopefully we all can be more consistent with the games that we have coming up. We have a lot of opportunities to win the rest of the way, but we have to play a little more consistently than we did in the first four minutes of this game."