Jan. 3, 2009

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

On today's victory over Charlotte:
"I thought our bench today was tremendous, especially there in the first half when we really needed them. Sean Mosley just did a great job, [as well as] Dino Gregory and Cliff Tucker. Braxton Dupree, in the first half, gave us some strong inside play against their big guy, Phil Jones, who is 6-10, 270. That was a step up for Braxton, and I thought he did a good job when he was in there. This is good for our team - to be down like we were early, and to see what we can do in that situation, because we haven't been in that situation for a while. To respond against a good team like we did - you know this team lost to Clemson by a point - and I was proud of our guys because we had to work hard to dig ourselves out of the hole. This was a good team effort today. This is a solid win for us."

On the performance by Sean Mosley against Charlotte:
"He's been doing a great job in practice. Sean was Player of the Year in Baltimore. Sometimes I think that doesn't get enough attention in recruiting circles. He's a great player. He struggled shooting early, but he's kept at it. He's worked at it, and he's worked hard before and after practice. This is a whole new thing for him at his size, having to guard guards and not play the other team's big guy like he did a lot of the time in high school. It's a learning process. Sean's just hung in there, and I'm really proud of him. I'm really proud of the way he's worked since he set foot on campus."

On the difference between the first half and the second half:
"I thought we were more intense on the defensive end, which broke some things loose for us. When you're really playing hard on defense, it just seems to carry over to the other end of the court. We got some looks in transition that we didn't get early; at the same time, we ran our offense harder. We did some really good things there with the ball. We have some really good players who responded and picked it up when we got in trouble."

Junior Forward Greivis Vasquez

On the increased intensity in the second half:
"Our energy on defense wasn't good enough in the first half. We got a little sloppy early and that's why we got down 11 [points]. I was telling my teammates that we needed to show our personality. Going into the second half, I told them we needed to play as a team. Whether we won or lost, we had to do it as a team. We have to go hard as a team. We have to rebound as a team. We have to play defense as a team, and we'll win. If we don't do that, we're going to lose."

On the importance of winning non-conference home games:
"It's big. It's really big. I'm a junior now and I really understand that. You have to be ready to play. Every home game, regardless of who we play, we have to win. If we win on Wednesday [against Morgan State] and win eight home games in the ACC, we put ourselves in a really good position."

On the play of freshman Sean Mosley:
"I'm so happy for him. To me, that's the guy that's going to take over this program and make some things happen in the future. I said before the season that I think he's going to be a pro someday. He needs to understand that he needs to come here and work every day. We need him to play every game like he did today."

Freshman Guard Sean Mosley

On his performance:
"Coach (Gary) Williams always tells me to keep playing, because I play so hard in practice. If I come in and don't score, it's ok, because I help the team on defense. But today I just came out and let the game come to me."

On providing a spark off the bench:
"Coach (Gary Williams) always tells the bench players to be ready to come in the game. If we can give a lot of energy off the bench, we can wear the other team out down the stretch. If we can play well and give the starters a chance to catch their breath, the other team will wear down, and then it's really tough to stop us."

Junior Guard Eric Hayes

On the comeback victory:
"We knew they were a good team and that they almost beat Clemson. We knew it was going to be a tough game, and they came out on fire and we got down. But we did a good job getting it back even in the first half, and in the second half we kind of put it away."

Charlotte Coach Bobby Lutz

On the change in momentum in the second half:
"You have to give Maryland credit. In the second half they elevated their game in so many ways. They just came out, and (Greivis) Vasquez and (Eric) Hayes just made big shots. We couldn't get a rebound. They get 19 offensive rebounds, and we get 18 defensive rebounds. I thought our guys did a lot of great things. The first half we were up, I just think we ran out of gas. Not having An'Juan (Wilderness), we need all of our pieces, especially against a team as athletic as Maryland. That's part of why they are very, very good. But we hung in there."

On the loss of forward Charles Dewhurst to injury:
"Losing (Charles) Dewhurst hurt us, obviously. He was playing really well. And again our depth was very much affected. But give them credit, because in the second half they elevated their game. We tried, but I am a little discouraged that we lost our composure a little bit for that one stretch. We just have to continue working on rebounding the basketball. I feel pretty good about our team."

On his team's confidence today after playing Maryland in a close game last year:
"We have tremendous respect for Gary Williams and his team. We think we can play with a lot of teams. We lost to Clemson by one early in the year, so we felt like we had a chance to win this game. I was worried about our depth. (An'Juan) Wilderness is a key player for us, and we didn't have him. And I think that they did wear us down physically. They just pounded us on the boards. Our guys exerted a lot of effort. I thought we had to win the game. I am crazy enough to think that we can beat anybody on a given day, even though we know that they are an excellent team."