K-State coach Jerome Tang explains his technical foul after loss to Seton Hall
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tang confronted officials after Haggerty fell to the rim, risking ejection.
- Coach defended outburst, saying Haggerty lacked protection on drives.
- Haggerty, All-American, scored a season-low 11 and turned the ball over.
Jerome Tang is usually not the type of basketball coach who goes out of his way to question officials or earn technical fouls.
But he practically demanded a “T” and flirted with an ejection during a 78-67 loss to Seton Hall on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum when he stormed onto the court and protested a no-call after Kansas State point guard PJ Haggerty fell to the floor on his way to the rim after making contact with a Seton Hall defender.
Tang was so animated that associate head coach Matthew Driscoll had to sprint onto the court and escort his boss back to the bench.
“I have got to stand up for my guys,” Tang said later.
Tang defended his outburst by explaining that Haggerty hasn’t been getting the type of foul calls he should as an All-American scorer. The K-State point guard was averaging 25.1 points per game heading into Saturday’s contest. But he was held to a season-low 11 points against the Pirates.
Haggerty went 3 of 12 from the floor and 5 of 12 from the free-throw line. He also had six assists, four rebounds and six turnovers.
Many of those turnovers came when he was trying to create off the dribble and lost control of the ball as he looked to make a layup in traffic. Tang felt like some of those plays should have been fouls instead.
“He’s clearly getting hit,” Tang said. “I just feel like they’re not ... he’s not getting protected when he’s clearly getting hit. When he’s not getting hit, I’m the first one to say it and to tell him, but when he is getting hit and they are not protecting him, then I have to stand up for him.”
Haggerty got off to a red-hot start this season, as he scored at least 23 points in his first six games. His season high is 37 points.
But he hasn’t been as efficient lately. Haggerty only scored 16 points in a loss to Indiana and 17 points in a loss to Bowling Green.
His season low on Saturday against Seton Hall was another dud. Tang didn’t think his star player got a fair whistle.