Feb. 21, 2009

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

On today's big win over No. 3 North Carolina:
"This was just a great team effort. You hear that cliché, and it is a cliché, but it's a good cliché because you can't win against a team that's ranked No. 3 in the country without a team effort. After not being able to play defense against them 18 days ago, we had to dig really deep to be able to do that. In other words, we had to come into practice, play hard enough in practice and it is hard to play hard in practice in the middle of February. To do that and then carry it over into the game against a great basketball team, I mean I really believe they'll be going into the tournament as one of the top seeds if they continue to do what they've done this year. To get that win today, we had to do some juggling because of foul problems, but every guy really concentrated, really focused and we were able to run some plays, even though we had guys out of position. Sean Mosley had to guard their 6-foot-8 guy a couple of times those last few possessions. That's what you're trying to do with your team is continue to get better as the year goes on and try to really focus on that and not focus on anything else. Just stay in the moment and we were able to do that. Based on what we did the last couple days in practice, plus our preparation for today's game allowed us to win the game."

On junior Greivis Vasquez's triple-double:
"He was shooting the ball well. After a while, you could really see that it was one of those days that he was really shooting the ball well. For a while there, he was our leading rebounder for our team, so the rebounds have been there on a consistent basis. Then the assists - he's a great passer. He throws one away once in a while and that's all you hear about, not about all the great plays he makes. I've been saying all along that he's a great player. I know that gets debated but he showed it tonight. He's a great player and he had a great night on a big stage against a very good basketball team."

On taking North Carolina to overtime:
"I told them, `We had to work hard to get here, so let's take advantage of the situation.' It's good to get to overtime when you're down by 16 in the second half, but that can't be a goal to get to overtime. The goal was to win the game; that was our goal from about the 10-minute mark on. We just kept talking about what we have to do this to win the game. We've got to get one stop here to score, that'll get us to six - that type of thing - but it was always to win the game. It wasn't to get to overtime. It worked out, it went into overtime, but if it took 50 minutes we were going to try to win the game."

On the crowd today:
"They were great, they were great. We'll take that crowd any time we play. That's the way it's supposed to be at Comcast Center. That was a Cole Field House crowd."

Junior Guard Eric Hayes

On throwing the ball up at the end of the game:
"It's a great feeling because I knew that was the game. I never had a chance to do that. That was pretty fun, and when the crowd rushed the game that was also a very special moment. "

On Maryland's chances of making the NCAA tournament:
"We are not really looking too far into the future. We are still 6-6 (in the ACC). We have got to keep working hard. We have a game here on Wednesday against Duke. They beat us pretty bad down at their place, so we need to be ready."

On the teams overall performance:
"We played extremely hard all game and we never gave up. When we were down by 16, Coach (Gary) Williams told us to keep working and we would get right back into the game, and that is exactly what we did. In Overtime we stayed tough, and we came out with a win."

On the play of Greivis Vasquez:
"None of us are surprised about the way he played. He has the ability to play like that every game because he works very hard at practice. Coming out we knew we were going to have to play extremely well to beat the No. 3 team in the country, and Greivis stepped up big time."

Senior Forward Dave Neal

On the play of Cliff Tucker:
"He (played well) the last time we played in Chapel Hill. He came in and gave us some great minutes (today). Cliff is capable of doing that every single night. He's athletic, and he can shoot the ball. He plays hard when he gets in the game. And he can play with just about anybody."

On NCAA tournament chances:
"We beat Michigan State who was in the top 5, and we just beat North Carolina who is third. The biggest thing is just protecting home court. Now we have the Duke Blue Devils coming in. Now that we know we can play with anybody, we are going to be ready to play."

Sophomore Forward/Guard Cliff Tucker
On being down by 16 points and coming back: "Coach (Gary Williams) kept telling us in the huddle not to give up because we could get right back into the game, and that is exactly what I did. We kept fighting all game and once we tied the game up we knew we had a chance and everything fell into place."

On his second half performance:
"Once I got into the game I knew I had to play well for the team and I knew I needed to shoot the ball. I kept shooting and once I got hot and everything just seemed to fall."

Junior Guard Greivis Vasquez

On head coach Gary Williams:
"He always does a great job in making us believe that we can win games, regardless of who we play. We had two days to prepare and he did a great job getting us ready."

On getting a triple double:
"I didn't know until (Maryland radio play-play announcer) Johnny Holiday told me while he was interviewing me. It's a blessing and I'm thankful. I don't have any words to describe this feeling right now, but I have a big game on Wednesday so I have to go back to work tomorrow."

On the last five minutes of the game:
"It was an unbelievable game. I have played big games at Maryland and I put this game at the top. It was a great win for us. We needed it."

On coming back after being behind by 16 points:
"We have a great coach and we never game up. Every Maryland fan should be thankful because that man can coach. He is the best at getting everyone together and making them believe that they can win games."

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

On the Terrapins' growth as a team:
"They played very well, I thought, against us at our place and made a bunch of shots. I thought today we played poorly because they made us play poorly ... Sorry to be so blunt but that's exactly what I thought it was. They were the smarter team, tougher team, better team."

On the Maryland comeback at the end of regulation:
"We turned it over three times in a row. We haven't turned it over like that all year long. But we did today."

On Maryland sophomore Cliff Tucker:
"I think he sees that Carolina blue and its gets him going. He really likes to shoot. He made some 3-point shots today."

North Carolina Guard Ty Lawson

On Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez:
"He played real well and knocked down big shots early and late. He's a great player."

On taking over in the second half and forcing shots:
"The shots I did shoot I think were open shots except for one, but other than that I don't feel I forced any shots."

On committing turnovers:
"My turnover was silly. I passed the ball to Tyler (Hansbrough), we got charged and I probably should have pulled it back out. They just made good shots and got stops."

North Carolina Guard Wayne Ellington

On what went wrong:
"We just didn't do what we were supposed to do down the stretch. They just outplayed us today. We have to just get back in the gym, fix what we did wrong and go from there."

On the difference today between his team and Maryland:
"Greivis (Vasquez) had a heck of a game. He made shots and got his team going. On the other hand, we were flat out there. We were being selfish and weren't playing as a team."