‘It is not a good feeling’: K-State coach Jerome Tang humbled by home loss to KU
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas hammered K-State 86-62 at Bramlage, snapping Jerome Tang’s home win streak.
- Kansas closed on a 27-7 run as K-State faltered late in the game.
- K-State falls to 10-10 (1-6 Big 12); tournament hopes fade, fan patience frays.
It’s not hard to imagine what transpired at the end of Kansas State’s 86-62 loss to Kansas becoming nightmare fuel for Jerome Tang.
Not only did the Wildcats fall to their biggest basketball rival at home for the first time since Tang took over as head coach four years ago, they were beaten so badly that the Jayhawks rubbed it in on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Instead of dribbling out the clock, KU guard Tre White threw down an exclamation dunk in the final seconds. Instead of heading straight to the handshake line, KU guard Melvin Council lingered on the court so he could sway his body back and forth the same way Tang normally does after big wins.
“You never want to see anybody celebrate on your court,” Tang said afterward. “It sucks to see them do it. It really, really sucks to see them do it. I haven’t experienced that before, and it is not a good feeling. Not at all.”
Little has gone right for the Wildcats this season. But things seemed to sink to a new low for them during the final minutes of this game.
K-State pushed KU for the entire first half, trailing just 37-35 at intermission. And it looked like the Wildcats may fight their rivals until the end when PJ Haggerty drained a 3-pointer to pull K-State within 59-55 with 7 minutes, 52 seconds remaining. A strong finish could have propelled the Wildcats to their fourth straight home victory over the Jayhawks, something that likely would have caused a court-storming from the student section.
But it wasn’t to be. Instead of competing until the end, K-State got blasted.
KU ended on a devastating 27-7 run.
“We just stopped playing,” K-State forward Taj Manning said. “We stopped competing as much down the stretch. You don’t want to let your rivals just come in your house and do stuff like that. That’s where the frustrations are at.”
It will be interesting to see where the Wildcats go from here.
They are now 10-10 on the season and 1-6 in the Big 12. Their chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament are hovering near zero. And they still have plenty of difficult games remaining.
K-State fans are beginning to sour on Tang. But at least he had a perfect home record against the Jayhawks to brag about. Until now, that is.
He said the Wildcats didn’t compete hard enough to beat the Jayhawks on Saturday. He also called out Nate Johnson and David Castillo during his postgame news conference, saying they both “have got to play better.”
Johnson finished with five points in 35 minutes against KU. Castillo had eight points in 37 minutes.
Haggerty was the only consistent scorer on the team, as he finished with 23 points. But Kansas outscored Kansas State by 22 when he was on the floor. Even when things were going good for the Wildcats, they were still bad.
The end result: KU players got to celebrate at Bramlage for a change.