March 15, 2002

Recap | Box Score

Siena Head Coach Rob Lanier
Opening statement:
"I'm proud of my team, not only for the effort they gave tonight, but the fact that we were in this position to begin with. It was my feeling going into the game that in order to give ourselves an opportunity, we had to do the things we could definitely do against anybody we play....They're just too good for us to spot 8 or 10 points...We wanted to force them to shoot some jump shots, they did and they made a fair amount of them. So they deserve a lot of credit. They're a very good team. They're as good as advertised."

On Siena's inability to gain any kind of advantage on Maryland:
"I didn't look at that as being disheartening. What was disheartening was that we had 10 turnovers in the first half, and they converted them...They're good enough without our help and we helped them quite a bit. But even without our help, we're going to have to play great to beat them. But giving up offensive rebounds, turnovers, transition defense, not getting back and stopping them-that was disheartening. You expect Juan Dixon to go out and get 29 points, because that's what he does. You expect Lonnie Baxter to do what he does. You can't be disheartened by good players playing well. You're disheartened by not doing the things you know you can do."

On comparing Maryland with Siena's other tough opponents:
"Oklahoma, Xavier, Providence-I don't know that any of those teams are anywhere near as good as Maryland. They're a special college basketball team...I think they're one of a small group of teams that is still head and shoulders above the rest. That field is shrinking, but it hasn't quite touched Maryland yet. I don't think anybody's unbeatable the way things are now. But hopefully they'll win the National Championship, so I can say the only reason we didn't make it is because we lost to the eventual National Champion."

Siena Senior Guard Dwayne Archbold
On Maryland:
"They're a real good team and they showed why they are the No.1 seed in the East. We made a lot mistakes and they capitalized on them. They are too good of a team for us to be making mistakes and getting down early."

Siena Senior Guard Prosper Karangwa
On trying to run their offense:
"They are pretty good defensively that's why they are ranked first in their bracket. They capitalized on every turnover. In the first half, I didn't do a good job on being poised enough and being assertive to run the offense for the team and they were able to capitalize on that."

Head Coach Gary Williams'
Opening statement:
"This was a little different for us watching the games for two days and then finally getting a chance to play. I think there was some pressure on the players whether they will admit it or not because you keep hearing that a No. 1 seed had never lost to a 16 seed and we were the last No. 1 seed to play."

On Siena:
"We played a team in Siena that was really on a roll. I watched the tapes from their playoff games in their conference and a couple times with the Alcorn State game and they were playing with a lot of confidence. They found the combination that they wanted. I thought they would come out here and play well tonight and they did. We had to work, which is good because we don't expect any free rides."

Maryland senior guard Juan Dixon
On Siena:
"I think Siena is a pretty long team. The have the leading scorer in the conference on their team. Those guys really try and they have good shooters and a good point guard. They were able to get good looks. I think that's why they were able to keep it close early."