Postgame Quotes

Jan. 9, 2013

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Postgame quotes following Maryland's 65-62 loss to Florida State Wednesday night.

Head Coach Mark Turgeon

Opening Statement:
"I give Florida State a lot of credit. They weren't making a lot of jump shots and they just kept trying and trying and they defended. At the end tonight they just had the best player on the floor, Okaro White. We had no answer for him. When the game was on the line and we had to show toughness, we didn't have it. I think it was 51-all and they got offensive rebound after offensive rebound, mostly him [White]. That was the difference. They missed two long threes and they chased them down. They stepped up and made free throws, they weren't making them but they stepped up and made them at the end. I am disappointed. We didn't play well but give them a lot of credit why we didn't play well. We were never in sync. We panicked offensively. We panicked as players and as a coaching staff a little bit. We couldn't figure it out. We kept subbing guys in and different things. We will watch the film and try to learn from it."

On the missed opportunities:
"I think when we were up 10 or 11 in the first half it should have been 15 or 16. We were missing wide open shots and throwing the ball out of bounds. We had six turnovers at the first timeout. They weren't making shots. I felt like there were a lot of opportunities for us in the first half. I knew at the first possession of the second half that it was going to be a grinder. I ran a play and we didn't get anything, just threw it out of bounds. We had a lot of guys not make good decisions tonight. Give them credit, this is the first time we have seen that kind of defense for 40 minutes. We didn't handle it very well."

On the last play:
"He [Seth Allen] is a freshmen and I haven't coached him that much. We haven't had a game go down to the wire yet, except for the Kentucky game. We didn't execute that either. Pe'Shon [Howard] shot a shot when Jake [Layman] was standing wide open next to him. Seth had probably made up his mind that he was going to shoot it. I wish Alex [Len] would have set that screen more by half court rather than the key where he set it. That would have opened up the floor a little bit more. I was pretty loud in there it was hard to communicate. We were saying that we could take a two...They zoned up on it pretty good and he couldn't get by it so he had to take the shot. They are long and athletic."

On Florida State's defense:
"We haven't seen it. They are athletic, they are good defensively. They protected the rim very well. Their post defense was very good and we couldn't drive by them. We didn't make good decisions. We had a lot of guys not play well and not get out of their funk. They are good defensively and they are getting better. Ian Miller, they didn't win early when he was hurt and he is back. Think about the two big three's that he hit before half time to make it a much better game than it might have been."

Sophomore Center Alex Len
On the Terps' near comeback:
"We had a lot of confidence. We had a lot of confidence in Seth [Allen]. We were all making sure that we were going to make the last shot. He'll make that nine out of 10 times, but not today."

On the loss:
"It's a good learning experience for us because we have 16 more games. We've got to learn from this game and just keep working hard to get better every day."

Sophomore Guard Nick Faust
On the loss:
"Guys are down, but Coach picked us up. He told us to push through this and learn from it. There's nothing else you can do; we already lost."

On Florida State:
"We let them out-rebound us and out hustle us in the second half. They ended up winning the 50-50 balls and that's why they ended up winning."

On takeaways from the game:
"Just get better. Work harder in practice. We've got to get the flow of ACC play and learn you've got to bring it every day, every play."

Freshman Guard Seth Allen

On the last play:
"On that last play, Coach [Turgeon] called a ball screen at the top for me. It was a little low. It was supposed to be set a little higher. I tried to go left, but their big showed, so I cut back right and then I pulled up and [Michael] Snaer was there to make a great play on the shot. I'm going to learn from it. I wanted to attack but I didn't feel like I had enough time. I probably did. I'm just going to learn from this mistake. I'm young, a freshman, I have a lot more games to play. In the future, if I ever get an opportunity like that, I plan on driving to the basket to try to get fouled or make a layup."

On having a chance while being down near the end:
"I definitely felt like we still had a chance. They went on a great run and we didn't hit a shot for about seven minutes. We didn't play great on the defensive rebounds at the end. [Okaro] White got a lot of offensive rebounds. It hurt us. I felt like we had life. I hit a three and got an and-one and then Nick [Faust] hit a three. I thought we had a great chance."

Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton

Opening Statement:
"The respect that we have for Maryland's program brought the best out of our kids in the first half. They kind of had their way with us in the beginning of the game. I thought they were more aggressive. We had good looks in the first half, but I thought we missed a lot of open looks. You've got to give them credit, they took our inside game away with their ability to push us off the block, and we challenged our kids at halftime to find a way to get on the boards. They've got a great combination of guys who can shoot threes, and guys who can take you off the dribble. It was very challenging mindset that our kids had to get into to be successful. I thought that in the second half we rose to the occasion; I thought we kept fighting. We had a lot of guys that came off the bench and gave us tremendous effort. When the game was on the line, we had some clutch plays. That gave us the opportunity to win a basketball game against a very good team that's playing very well.

On Okaro White's second half:
"In the heat of the battle, I didn't know he had 15 straight [points], but I knew he was playing his butt off. I guess that is to be commended."

On the ACC start:
"I didn't know until yesterday that this is the first time in the history of the program that we started 2-0. That's an accomplishment in itself that we didn't realize we were close to accomplishing. This early in the season, it's not about those. We are so young and so inexperienced; I think the story of the game is that our youngsters are learning a little more about the focus you've got to play with at this level. I looked up at times and we had three freshmen on the floor. We're a team that's growing and we're not close to reaching our potential, but I think that we learned a little bit more about how to utilize the defensive principles we've been learning all year. That's been an elusive mindset that we've not been able to get. I thought tonight our rotations were better in the second half... That shows that are learning more how to play in the ACC."

Florida State Junior Forward Okaro White
On tonight's game:
"We've been preaching to our young guys on how hard ACC play is, and how much intensity you have to play with. We sat down with all the juniors and seniors and told the young guys, we have to stop talking, and we have to show them how hard you have to play. In the second half we were down in the hole, and I tried to get us out."

On how frustrating it was when the team couldn't get the lead:
"It was very frustrating. We were fighting so hard the whole game, and we kept going back and forth. I think I was on the bench at that point, but it was very frustrating. I just continue to believe if you play hard things will work out in the end."

On not taking advantage of Maryland turnovers:
"You just have to stick to the game plan and stick with what you normally do; you just bring intensity. I can't express the fact of how important intensity is."

Florida State Senior Guard Michael Snaer
On the team's comeback in the second half:
"It was big for us. We had a lot of guys step up--Ian [Miller] stepped up big and played tonight. [Kiel] Turpin really stepped up in the second half. In the first half we had to make an adjustment. We were looking for that throwback too early, and [Maryland] kept holding the ball and our offense was really stagnant. When we really got into moving the ball and buying into that, our offense spread out and guys were knocking down shots. They got really tired at the end, you could tell it showed, and we were able to capitalize."

On seeing Okaro White step up:
"That's big time because you can tell he's grown as a player. He didn't have a great first half, and wasn't really looking to score. When he started playing off other people and moving the ball, we were able to get open shots and opportunities."

On playing with four fouls early in the second half:
"Well I have five in me, so if I have to give my team all five or four that's just what I have to do. I have to make plays for this team--whether that's offensively or defensively. We're a team that has guys who may go for 20 or 30, but we're not going to win that way every night. Tonight was just a collective, unselfish spirit, and I'm really trying to bring that over to my teammates."

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