Jerome Tang sounds off after worst loss as Kansas State basketball coach

MANHATTAN — At every press conference, Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang's opening statement begins with him thanking God for the chance to coach the Wildcats.

Tang's first words after the Wildcats' 82-66 loss to Bowling Green started the same way, but the frustrated coach added a caveat.

"I don't feel very blessed right now," Tang said. "I'm pretty pissed off, and I'm ready to get to practice tomorrow morning."

Tang's Wildcats lost their third consecutive game after starting the season 5-0. The loss was Bowling Green's first win over a Power 4 opponent since 2005, and marked the worst defeat in Tang's four years as Wildcats coach.

Bowling Green led wire-to-wire, limiting K-State's offense to its season-low scoring output and sounding the alarm on a season that started with an entertaining brand of basketball with NCAA Tournament hopes.

"I didn't see toughness," Tang said, beginning a three-minute rant in which he continued to call out his team's effort. "(Bowling Green) looked like a team that had a chip on their shoulder and came in to win a basketball game; we looked like what we just came to play. That's what happens when you don't show up, and you don't bring it; you're going to get beat."

Kansas State played a smaller four-guard lineup for much of the night, while Tang could never find a rotation that he could settle on. At times, it felt as if Kansas State was fielding a lineup that could defend while sacrificing some offense. At others, it was the other way around, with K-State rotating in its best offensive firepower with 8:53 to go when trailing by 10, only to lose by 16.

The Wildcats were outrebounded by seven, while also giving up 12 makes from 3-point range. Bowling Green stuck to seven players, while Tang had to go deep into his bench to find an answer, but nothing worked.

"I can take losses if they beat you, and you gave a great effort," Tang said. "But when you don't give an effort, you don't deserve to wear this jersey, man. You don't deserve to have K-State on the front of it, because that's not who we are.

"The people who support this place ... they are grinders; they wake up early, they stay up late and they show up every time. I'm so disappointed for our fans and the people who support us. I'm going to make sure this doesn't happen again."

The loss on Monday, Dec. 1, at Bramlage Coliseum, was the second consecutive game in which Tang used his postgame platform to apologize to fans. He did the same after the team's Nov. 25 loss at Indiana, in which the Wildcats lost 86-69. The two non-competitive losses followed their 86-85 heartbreaker in the Hall of Fame Classic championship game against Nebraska in Kansas City.

Under Tang, the Wildcats had yet to lose a home game to a non-Power 4 opponent, and some noted the loss was the program's worst since falling to Fort Hays State in 2021 under Bruce Weber. Last season's nonconference losses to Liberty and Drake looked poor at the time, before both went on to win their conferences, while Drake lost in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.

Tang's frustration resembled that of the crowd, who started to leave their seats with two minutes left in the game, knowing a Tulsa-like comeback wasn't in the works. They zipped up their coats and ventured out into the cold amid Manhattan's first snowfall of the year.

Tang said he would have joined them if he could.

"I would've walked out a lot earlier, and I would've left with some of the fans," Tang said. "That's the effort we give? That's on me. I'll take that. I don't deserve it, but I'll take it, but we're going to have to fix some things"

Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State coach Jerome Tang sounds off after Bowling Green loss