Dec. 4, 2016 Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
Georgetown 77, Maryland 74
Dec. 4, 2016
Verizon Center
Postgame Quotes Head Coach John Thompson III
On late first half Turnaround…
Despite how much we went over it in practice, I think it took us a while to get used to their rhythm on offense. Where I said this the last couple of days our communication has to be very good and we had some lazy switches when we didn't need to switch. I just think our defense got better, and going back and forth between man and zone I thought it threw their rhythm a little and that's a team that's hard to throw their rhythm. They are a very good offensive team, averaging around 86 points a game, and five or six guys that can get 20 points at any given time and four or five that have probably already done that. So to answer your question I think we guarded better and that got us in a rhythm.
On switching everything on the last play:
We were supposed to be doing that the last three or four minutes, so yes.
On Georgetown's press:
I think we were quick enough, once they got the ball across half court to organize and find a man. So we were reluctant because they were getting too many open shots. I just thought that we should sit down and guard them in the half court, and like I said then we fell into that rhythm.
On progress during the home stand:
I think we made progress. I just told the guys' this but I think this week is an important week where we have five or six days until our next game for us to get better. So I said this following Hawaii where up until that point, because of the schedule and travel that we didn't really have any practice time. This week we have a goof week of Georgetown getting better and healthy.
Junior guard L.J. Peak
On importance of free throws and pulling ball out:
We just have to come down and make foul shots to close the game out.
On guarding Luke Eddy…
I just had to contain and find the shooter and stay in front of him. He was pretty quick but you just have to stay in front of him.
Grad Student Rodney Pryor
On defensive pressure in second half:
I think we followed our game plan better in the second half. In the first half we freed up some shooters early and they got some good looks, second half adjustment we had good communication, switches better and were able to get out on shooters earlier to make it tough and overuse their dribbles. Just communicating better and following the game plan.
On adjusting as a transfer:
In terms of expectations of adjusting, it's about dialing in with my group as best as possible in practice and film. The adjustment has been great. Coaches and players have been great at accepting me for who I am. Playing 120 percent every time I step on the floor and just being aggressive.
Head Coach Matt Matheny
Opening statement …
We are proud of the fact that our guys played well and executed an aggressive game plan, particularly in the first 15 minutes of the game. To Georgetown's credit, they finished the half well and started the second half well. But I think our guys showed a good deal of maturity coming back when it could have been one that got away from us. We are incredibly disappointed in getting close. But what we told our players after the game is that much like after a victory, we want to learn from the experience ââ'¬" we need to do the same thing from this experience. I'm sure with these two guys beside me (Brian Dawkins and Luke Eddy) and our veteran maturing players, that we'll do just that.
On Georgetown's changing defenses in the first half …
They have great length in their zone. I thought there were a few possessions when we were back on our heels. We started turning the ball over whether they were in zone or man and they got some run out buckets. That was a big factor in them coming back. I thought we did a pretty good job at times getting open looks ââ'¬" some we made, some we didn't. But that did break our rhythm a little bit. We had seen a lot of film. We knew that they were willing to play that. We also knew that it was a defense that we were very well prepared to attack and we got some good looks.
On #1 Luke Eddy's role on the team …
Isn't he fun to watch? He's tough as nails and Luke is incredibly experienced in our system. He does a tremendous job of executing our style of play ââ'¬" we call it our systemââ'¬" offensively, to get us in the right positions to take good shots. Georgetown made it tough on us, they really did. But I felt like we attacked their pressure very well early in the game. I think we shot a really high percentage in the first 10 minutes and a lot of credit goes to Luke as a result of that. But he's been doing it for us for a while and we expect that out of him and it's fun to watch.
On a lack of free throw attempts today and if it was affected by Georgetown's size …
I think their size is difficult for us. We drive in and they did a good job of building a wall. You see it now throughout college basketball ââ'¬" the elevation and trying to maintain verticality. Georgetown did a good job of it. As a result, we didn't get some of the fouls we've been getting. The credit for that is their defense. We like to get to the line ââ'¬" I think that's part of our offense that's been good for us in this early part of the season. But their defense made it difficult.
On Georgetown shooting 70 percent in the second half …
We have to be better defensively. We've talked a lot about that this early season. We are getting better defensively but we have to defend better. Georgetown ran their offense very well. I think they got shots that they are comfortable with taking that are good shots. I thought Govan was really important to their offensive attack.
On the final play …
We're talking about a fraction of a second. I would love for him to close his eyes and throw it from half court and go in. I don't care how it goes in. But we'll put the ball in his hands and try to create and get us an open look from three. They obviously knew that we were going to try to pull up from three so the paint was wide open because they were willing to give up the two. Luke ââ'¬" I would have loved for him to make a three but he tried to deflate the defense as best he could, he knows our play, we were a half a second late with the release of the shot.
On the team competing with Georgetown …
I love coaching our guys. They have an incredible amount of heart. They want to be good, they want to be great. So they work hard to get better in areas that we need to work on, rebounding is one of them. Another characteristic of a rebounding stat is effort. I thought our guys gave tremendous effort today.
# 1 | Luke Eddy | Sr. | Guard
On the final play …
I was going as fast as I could and trying to get a three off. I was just a little bit late. We were definitely going for a three and we were just trying to create ââ'¬" it was a double screen off the other side ââ'¬" I don't know how much time was left when I threw it, but once I threw it, I saw the red lights go off and I knew it was too late.
#00 | Brian Dawkins | R-Jr. | Forward
On competing against Georgetown but falling short …
I think it's just as frustrating either way knowing that we can be that close or just losing in general. We have to build off of this and learn from it. It's not the end of our season, we've got a lot of games left. I think it was good for us to see that we can compete with a team at this level but at the same time we just have to get better from it.
On the maturity of the team playing out during the game …
Just with our guys being positive no matter what is going on in the game. Encouraging each other and continuing to look at the next play. When they went on that run in the second half, our guys ââ'¬" nobody put their head down, we all just realized that we need to take a deep breath, encourage each other and try to chip away as good as we can. That's the biggest indicator of our growth and maturity as a team.