Feb. 15, 2010

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes |  Photo Gallery 1  |  Photo Gallery 2 

Maryland head coach Gary Williams

Opening Statement:
"I am not big on individual play usually, but the way Greivis [Vasquez] played tonight was exceptional and I think he got us off to a great start in the first half. It wasn't easy to get ready and play this game tonight, but the way we started the first half tonight really set the tone for the game. Cliff Tucker coming in to the game when Sean Mosley got into foul trouble was big for us. Eric Hayes was steady and wasn't feeling well before the game but he sucked it up and played a lot of minutes for us in the first half and it was important for us to get off to a good start. Landon Milbourne played great and got his 14 points for us, which I thought was very important. He learned some things down at Duke on Saturday and he was ready to go tonight. It was a great team effort tonight, but Greivis [Vasquez] was outstanding the way he got us [started] in the first half.

On playing well on the short turnaround:
"There's not much time to practice and get things together. It was more of the players getting mentally focused and being ready for the game tonight. I wasn't sure how we would be mentally or physically because of the short turnaround and now we have to do it again to play NC State on Wednesday. So there isn't much time to get ready."

On the play of the Terps offense in the first half:
"We scored 50 in the first half and we came out very aggressive. We shot the ball well too. In order to score 50 points in a half no matter what you do offensively you have to shoot the ball well and I was glad to see that. Dino [Gregory] played great and was a big lift for us in the game.

On the play of Greivis Vasquez:
"I think he got all of his shots tonight as part of the offense and he didn't really force anything and when he does that he is really effective. He is such a great passer too, so when they started double teaming him he found the open man every time and I think that was the real key to this game: his ability to read the defense. And he was able to make the correct decisions tonight with the ball."

On the play of Jordan Williams:
"We wanted to go inside a lot more tonight and play close to the basket. Tonight he got the ball in great positions and what he does best is that he is persistent. He is going to miss some shots and then he stays after it and that way he gets his second and third shots sometimes."

Senior forward Landon Milbourne

On the rebounding:
"They had two key scorers in [Sylven] Landesberg and [Mike] Scott and a big part of offense is getting second chances. We tried to eliminate that, everybody go to the boards, and try to keep them to one shot and one shot only so we could get the ball and run out and score."

On the expectations for tonight's game after the Duke game:
"It wasn't easy at all. We came out there and worked hard. Everybody on the team worked hard. Greivis [Vasquez] had an amazing night. Everybody just tuned in and tried to come back and get a win. It just so happens to have turned out to have that wide of a spread but it was just a matter of us coming out there and being focused."

On what it will take to beat N.C. State Wednesday:
"We don't have to change anything. We can play just like we did tonight and we can go out there and have a pretty good game. So we don't have to change much about the way we played. Tonight was just a perfect display of Maryland basketball. That's how we need to continue to play for the rest of the season."

Freshman forward Jordan Williams

On Greivis Vasquez's performance:
"Tonight is the Greivis we all know. In practice he works hard. He deserves it. He works extremely hard before and after practice watching tape."

On tonight's game:
"Not just individually but for ourselves we wanted to come and play strong. Losing like we lost to Duke, we haven't had an experience like that all year. I think it was tough for us to experience that and I think my competitiveness came out. I was pretty upset with my play at Duke. I took that personally so tonight I wanted to come out and play stronger and show my teammates I can come back from a bad game and play good."

Senior guard Greivis Vasquez

On how he felt about this game following the Duke loss:
"I felt like we were going to come out here and play hard. I would have never predicted we were going to play this good but I was going to bring the best effort, myself and the whole team, and we got the win."

On keeping the momentum on the road:
"It's so hard to win on the road like that. You're not going to win by 18 points but we just have to do what we did against Florida State. Just keeping playing together and being mentally tough and keep fighting. It's going to be a fight on Wednesday. It's going to be a tough game against a tough team.

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett

Opening Statement:
"Not much to say in this one. They outplayed us. From a tangible standpoint, and an intangible standpoint, they got to us. I told our guys to compete as hard as they competed on Saturday and battle. To come out this flat was really frustrating. We have 48 hours to turn around and it will be a gut check playing against another tough team. But from a defensive standpoint, to get beat in transition like that and have our starters give up offensive rebounds, to not play team help-oriented defense - those are the things we work on a lot and those things were really exposed and lacking. That hurt. "

On Maryland's win:
"We were a step behind just trying to beat a simple pin-down screen. [Maryland] played well. They shot well and [they're] certainly a well-coached team. They run their stuff hard and they had something to prove after their tough loss, but they won. Any category you want to put up, they got it, as far as positive categories."

On Greivis Vasquez:
"We didn't guard a simple up-screen. It was 18 to 25 at the half. He had his way. We didn't make him earn it and the couple times we did he would just rise up and shoot it ... I don't think we were helping near well enough to guard a player of that caliber. Even if we did, they got a second chance with a transition basket. It was a breakdown in almost every area."

On instructing his players in the huddle:
"It's the little things. You get down like that - I think it was [between] 21 and 24, and then the flood gates opened. Then you get down and it comes down to the little things. It really does. You have to be willing to put a body on someone to block out a defensive play. You have to be willing to jump the ball, help a player out, and make the extra pass. Just share the ball. I think we got a little panicky. We tried to get it back too quickly. We lost our mentality of trying to battle possession to possession. I think it got out of hand."

Junior forward Mike Scott

On his mindset towards getting back on the right track:
"We just need to play better defense and play more intense."

On how frustrating it is to have a lapse in defense:
"Very frustrating. They did everything they wanted in the half court set."

On how tough it is to stop a player like Greivis Vazquez when they get going:
"Very tough. He was doing everything. He basically controlled the whole game."

Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg

When asked if he thought the team got tired:
"I don't think so. I just think we all need to get on the same page."

On the first half:
"Coach kept saying we weren't sticking to our principles defensively, and that's basically what happened. We weren't doing what we were supposed to do like help defense and we let them get easy baskets."

On what the team needs to do going forward:
"We just need to build off these games."