Dec. 30, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening comments:
“I thought we were really good in the second half. I thought our defense was better. We played with more intensity and more aggression. We obviously had physical advantages and were able to take advantage of those. It was nice to be able to get people some playing time. We were too big and physical inside and that set the tone for the game.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense:
“I didn’t think our defense was as good as it was against Mercer. I thought (Manhattan) had some open shots and just missed. We caught them on a night that they didn’t shoot well. Our defense is getting better and the first 13 to 15 minutes of the second half, we were really good.”
On Manhattan’s Kevin Laue:
“It’s an amazing story. You have to admire any athlete who goes out there and competes the way he did. It was very impressive to see. I don’t want anyone on their team to play well, but I enjoyed watching him play.”
On Vanderbilt’s balanced scoring:
“It doesn’t make any difference to me. I would like for our scorers to score. I’d like to see A.J. (Ogilvy), Jermaine (Beal), Brad (Tinsley), Jeff (Taylor), and John (Jenkins) score. It’s what I want to count on during league play. I wish the lid wouldn’t have been so tight at the end on those guys.”
Vanderbilt guard Jermaine Beal
On Vanderbilt’s offense:
“Overall it was a good game for us and we had a nice effort. We had to win and we were able to push through.”
Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy
On Vanderbilt’s defense:
“We knew they were a big driving team, so we were just trying to get the help. We’re a tall team and we were able to stop their offense. We had a couple practices where we were trying to turn our defensive effort around. The past couple of games, our focus on defense has helped. It’s more of an asset than a liability.”
Vanderbilt guard John Jenkins
On 3-point shooting:
“I’m a little disappointed with my 3-point effort today. I can get better and I’ll work on it.”
On Manhattan’s offense:
“I kind of felt that they were shooting shots they couldn’t make. We were able to capitalize and make a huge run.”
Manhattan Head Coach Barry Rohrssen
Opening Statement:
“Give Vanderbilt a lot of credit for the way they came out tonight. They’re a strong team, a very good team, and it’s obvious tonight that they did a good job. They took advantage of points off turnovers; their bench did a great job getting points. We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight or rebound well enough tonight. We allowed them to get some spurts going and got them on a roll.”
On Vanderbilt’s size:
“They had 10 blocks. They have some big, tall, strong, physical inside players and that showed tonight.”
On Kevin Laue:
“Kevin was a bright spot. He’s one of the things you can take out of a game like this, because he put effort in and really got the minutes to show how well he grabs boards. He has hustle and heart. I didn’t realize that he would be able to play that hard as a freshman. Freshmen have a learning curve and as our tallest player, he was able to stack up against Vanderbilt’s height. Hopefully this helps with his confidence and he’ll continue to improve.”
