Posted by BillFromTampa

“We made poor decisions, turned the ball over like we’d never played basketball before,” Thornton said. “We just really played stupid.”

Florida State Forward Al Thornton on bouncing back from the loss, “We just need to try and get better. We have two more games and we just need to finish strong. We have to put this game behind us and not dwell on it, because it will affect our next game. We need to learn from this.”

“We played very poorly in the second half. They got some turnovers and converted. They got on a roll and the crowd got behind them. Credit goes to Maryland because they outplayed us during the second half.”
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“It was pretty much a transition game and kind of physical, too,” Thornton said. “I was kind of fatigued, but that’s no excuse. I should have made the free throws.”

“The crowd got going,” shooting guard Jason Rich said. “They started making passes, making dunks they hadn’t made on us in two years.”

Florida State Guard Isaiah Swann on Maryland’s 10-0 run at the beginning ofthe second half, “It was a little bit of everything. First D.J Strawberry tipped it in, and then we came down and turned it over. They scored six straight buckets at one point off of turnovers or quick shots. When you come to play at Maryland, and you get down by 12, you’re in trouble. It’s hard to come back, but at the same time we need to find it within ourselves.”.

Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton, “I was really concerned at half time. We went into the locker room tied at 31-31, and I look at the stat sheet and notice that their starters only played ten, twelve and nine minutes. Two of our starters had played twenty minutes and I was concerned how that was going to affect us. Then we come out in the second half and give up five straight baskets, and we just dug ourselves that hole. When you play a team of their caliber, a team as hungry as they are and you dig yourself a hole like that, it’s really hard to come back.

On his team’s play, “We had a hard time finding that secondary offensive threat. We have not been able to get any consistency in the offensive game and we need that. When you look at the stats, with the exception of the beginning of the second half, we didn’t play that bad defensively. Our rebounding has been getting much better, but we couldn’t seem to get into it offensively.”

On his team’s tournament hopes, “We still have a chance. If you look back on the years, there have always been teams who shouldn’t have gotten in mathematically, yet they were still there. I think we need to keep a positive attitude and remember that we have seen teams that have had a turn around in their season; teams who have gone to the Final Four after finishing the season with 16-10 records, teams who have gone and played well in their conference tournaments. You just have to find a way.”

On FSU’s NCAA chances, “Mathematically, you still have a chance,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

“What we have to do now is make sure we don’t allow ourselves to give in to adversity,” said Hamilton, whose team hosts North Carolina State on Saturday and closes out the regular season at Miami on March 3. “These types of situations can build character; it doesn’t have to tear you down.”

Regarding his inured hand, “Today at shoot-around, it was hurting a little bit,” Douglas said. “Before I get back on the court, I have to do some game-like situations.”

“We knew if we jumped on them they’re a real fragile team. We jumped right on them and got after them with a lot of emotion and intensity,” Strawberry said. “We were hoping they would fold, and they did.”

“We knew that if we jumped on them and got after them with a lot of intensity and energy,” Strawberry said, “they would not be able to handle it.”

Maryland Guard Eric Hayes On the defense of D.J. Strawberry, “In the first half, [Al] Thornton was hitting a lot of jump shots and getting them back into the game, but D.J. came out in the second half with a lot of energy and did a great job taking it to him. That really picked our intensity up.”

Bambale Osby on going up against Al Thornton, “He’s a tremendous player. He can pump fake and go to the rack, but we were able to run him to the ground. We wanted to keep someone fresh on him all the time. We just wanted to wear him down and that is what we were able to do.”

“This is a big step for Bambale because he’s had some situations where he’s had similar situations, and the ball hasn’t gone in the basket,” Williams said. “Tonight, he made everything: He made two big free throws for us, and he was a force.”

“He (Vasquez) spoon-fed me all night long,” Osby said. “Doing this is just a confidence builder.”

“The first half I committed two bonehead fouls. I put my team in a bad situation,” Strawberry said. “I just wanted to go out in the second half, the first four minutes, and just play as hard as I can and give my team an emotional lift.”

“I got two quick fouls; [the shoes] just weren’t working, so I had to change it,” Strawberry said. “Something had to change.”

“I thought, ‘When the second half starts, I’m just going to go crazy,’ ” Strawberry said.

“We’re playing at a higher level,” Strawberry said. “We’re stopping teams, and we’re running our offense well. Everybody on this team is contributing what they can, and we’re getting big wins.”