Former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams took to the air earlier today, joining “The Sports Fix” on ESPN 980 to discuss the Terps and their 65-56 loss last night at N.C. State.

Williams on whether it was a bad loss:: “I think every coach has been in that situation … College basketball is kind of strange in that the players are so up and down.”

On the team’s performance: Like all Terp fans, I was very disappointed last night … When you find out before a game that the other team’s best player, the leading scorer in the ACC, is not going to play, there’s a tendency for players to think it’s going to be easier than it would really be. And somehow, you’ve got to get over that.

“You’ve got to understand that you’re on the road. Any road game, no matter who you play, is a tough game in any conference.”

On the poor performance by Maryland’s players: “I think you have to look at the players. They’re supposed to be good players and it’s time for them to step up and play.”

On Mark Turgeon’s rotation: “It’s hard to get that down, but there comes a time where some guys … Probably every year I coached, there was a couple guys disappointed with the amount of playing time that they got.

“But you’ve got to do what’s best for the group, for the team, for the school, for the fans … Whatever’s best for the team, and I’m sure Mark is looking for that really hard.”

On N.C. State’s second-half run: "Aggressiveness makes up for a lot of things and on the defensive end, especially in the second half, they’re seemed to be some confusion about how they were going to play a screen on the perimeter."

“N.C. State, if they were going to win, they were going to have to do it on the perimeter … Maybe they shoot over their head, but you know, it can’t be every game when people shoot over their head … Maryland got really cold at the same time as N.C. State warmed up, and that really turned the game around.”

