6 March 2024
LAWRENCE (KSNT) – K-State head men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang was rather blunt when addressing his team’s performance following K-State’s loss to KU Tuesday night.
The Wildcats won the year’s first Sunflower Showdown matchup on Feb. 5 in Bramlage Coliseum, but the Jayhawks dominated in Allen Fieldhouse, winning 90-68. Visibly frustrated following the loss, Tang said K-State’s “effort didn’t match what [their] fans deserve.”
“To put on a K-State uniform, to wear the purple, you take on this ownership that ‘I’m going to be the hardest working, most competitive, gritty group of people that anyone will ever come into contact with,” Tang said. “We may not always come out on top, but it will never be because of a lack of effort. Tonight, the effort wasn’t there.”
K-State kept the game within reach during the first half, but KU blew things wide open in the second, leading by as many as 28.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures on the night, by the Jayhawks finished with the upper hand in almost every stat category.
“This is not me being negative, this is me being truthful,” Tang said. “They have to hear it… nobody pays for average, and they definitely don’t pay for below average. This is not who we are and what we’re about.”
The Wildcat head coach says his team needs a greater “care factor” before hosting senior night in their building against Iowa State on Saturday. He said it was obvious how much KU cared about winning on senior night.
K-State’s hopes of playing in the tournament aren’t completely diminished, but it’s likely going to take a win on Saturday and a good run in the Big 12 Tournament to get there.
With the loss, K-State falls to 17-13 on the year and 7-10 in conference play. The ‘Cats host No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m.