Feb. 7, 2010

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

Opening Statement:
"Our team is interesting. We were just in the locker room with the players. [Winning] was a great feeling obviously, but we weren't getting carried away. We know what is ahead of us. We have another tough game ahead of us Wednesday night. We'll enjoy this and just go from there.

"We can do that with players like Landon [Milbourne], Greivis [Vasquez] and Eric [Hayes]. I think their composure both on and off the court has been a big thing for us this year. We can compete. We're a very competitive team. Having Dino Gregory back allows us to have a rotation where you have a veteran player coming in for Jordan [Williams] or Landon. And that allows us to bring James [Padgett] along a little slower and he's starting to get his minutes. Right now we're working very hard to get ready for each game. I think that has been the key the last couple weeks."

On appreciating the win:
"When you coach, you don't want any change with what you're trying to do and what we went through with the snow, trying to get ready for the game. And Carolina did the same thing, it wasn't just us, they had to get up and just sit around. You want to play well. We get proud of the guys when they make the effort in a little different situation, and I think we did that today."

On answering North Carolina's comeback:
"There was a point there when I was little concerned early in the second half, they were playing well. [Marcus] Ginyard came out and made a big shot and gave them some confidence early in the half. We weren't moving very well and we had to dig deep to get it going again. It came from the defense. I thought both Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley did some great things in the second half for us today. It is great for Sean because he is a starter and we need him playing well and he played well today."

On Maryland's 3-point shooting:
"We don't go in there saying we're going to take this many threes or anything like that. The ball moved pretty well and we had good 3-point shooters. If you look at the percentages from the 3-point line, we're a pretty good 3-point shooting team, if we get the looks. When you get into trouble with that is jf you start taking them early in the shot clock, if you take them when you could have gotten an easier shot or when you're pretty well-guarded. But I thought we did a pretty good job of taking them when they were open."

On beating North Carolina:
"It is special to beat a good program, I have a lot of respect for Roy Williams at Kansas and Carolina. They'll come to play. Regardless of their record today, they showed up. That second half, in that five-to-six minute period when they were making that run, they were a very good basketball team. If you give them that run and let them continue that, then obviously they can win."

Senior guard Eric Hayes:

On the 3-point shooting:
"We're a very good shooting team. When we're shooting like that it's tough to cover. We started to get Landon [Milbourne] going in the second half down low. Jordan started playing well in the second half so when we're running on all cylinders like that, we can score a lot of points."

On beating North Carolina:
"The past couple times we beat them it's been overtime or a close game. Anytime you can beat a North Carolina or a Duke or anybody like that it's something special. Not a lot of teams can do that on a consistent basis. So we've done a pretty good job of beating them. It's pretty cool.

On Wednesday's game vs. Virginia:
"It's a big game for us. They're playing pretty well. They just lost but they've been playing pretty well. They've got a good team, a good coach. We have to be ready for them because they're coming in here thinking they can win."

On the snow:
"It wasn't too hard. We were all here. We didn't have too much trouble getting to practice or anything like that, so it was basically a regular schedule for us. Once we heard they let the students in, we knew they would show up and we'd have a pretty good crowd. We were really happy about that."

Senior guard Greivis Vasquez

On the win over UNC:
"It was fun, I thought my teammates did a good job. I thought Landon and the guys on the bench played outstanding. I'm really happy but we have to continue to work. We have a big game on Wednesday, so we have to put this win behind us and keep winning,"

On the players coming off the bench:
"They were a big part of this win. They played great off the bench. I thought Adrian [Bowie] was outstanding, Cliff Tucker played well, that really helped us... That's why I get so many open shots, that's why I get so many layups, because of my teammates."

On the crowd:
"Well I just want to thank them, to thank all the fans and students for being here. It was so loud and they were one of the reasons why we won. We're thankful for that and we appreciate what they do for us."

Senior Forward Landon Milbourne

"We have our starters who are producing and we have guys coming off the bench who are doing the same thing, so it's going to be pretty tough to stop us. We have that confidence. Cliff, Adrian and Dino had an amazing game. Everybody got into the game plan and that's what we're going to need down the stretch. It's getting to the point where guys are going to start focusing on Greivis or whoever is scoring at the time, so we're going to need guys to come off the bench and produce like they did tonight."

"It's just another win for us really. We came out there and played hard and you saw the outcome, so that's what we're going to do. Tomorrow we're going to play as hard as we can and see what happens at the end."

On if he is surprised about the team's success in the ACC:
"I'm not surprised because I know how hard we've worked. We deserve the right to do that. We worked so hard in the preseason and we're working hard now. We're not changing anything, even though we're getting wins, we're not getting complacent. We're coming out to practice every day and we're working just as hard as we worked the last day."

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement:
"You have to congratulate Maryland. I thought Gary's team in the first half, 9-for-16 from the 3-point line really just killed us. We cut it from 16 down to four and turned it over twice in a row. We get back in it in the second half... cut it down to five a couple times. I watched the scoreboard today probably more than I ever watched one in my life. In the first half, we really gave them too many open looks and in the second half, we didn't get back and stop the break. Two of the first four possessions there the big freshman center, Williams, one time he laid it up on the break and the other time he had it, but just missed that time and I think someone else got it."

On starting 2-6 in ACC:
"To say that we are struggling would be the biggest understatement of my life, but it makes no difference... nobody is going to feel sorry for us... we best start playing better."

"In 21 years as head coach I've never been in this spot, but somewhere, somehow I've got to help the kids to get out of it. But 2-6 is not comfortable... you know, it's not good.

On Greivis Vasquez:
"Well I just think he's such an emotional player, he's so important to the team. He gives them talent, he gives them enthusiasm, he gives them emotion, he gives them cockiness. You know, 11 assists, he may have four turnovers, but he's making things happen."

On Eric Hayes:
"With Eric [Hayes] there, it's awfully nice to have really experienced guards. We said Eric was great shooter and we tried to make him put the ball on the floor and we gave him 4-for-5 from the three-point line, so we didn't do a good job with that either. He's an exceptional player."

Senior forward Marcus Ginyard

On Maryland's success in transition:
"We weren't doing a good job of getting back. We had all five guys looking at the ball and it wasn't a priority for us to get back on defense. That's the way that we played out there. It wasn't a big deal for anybody to worry about running back on defense and it killed us."

On the Tar Heels' defensive performance: "That was about as disappointing as it gets. It was as disappointing as it gets."

Junior forward Will Graves

On UNC's intensity: "Any time you come out like that it's a surprise. We've just got to be focused from the jump. We made some runs but we didn't stay focused throughout the runs. We need to build on those runs and not let them fight back."

On turning things around the second half of the conference schedule:
"We need some wins. Point blank, simple."