Jerome Tang on beating Kentucky: 'Tradition does not help you if you don't have dudes'

Jerome Tang helped earn Kansas State a massive victory in his first year with the program as the Wildcats knocked off Kentucky to earn a spot in the Sweet 16. Even so, he doesn’t want to hear it when it comes to tradition. At the end of the day, he said all that mattered is they had the players to win the game.

Tang had a spicy response with the media postgame when discussing what it meant to beat UK considering their history. He made it clear that K-State has just as much history and, as of this afternoon, the most important thing which is a win that will extend their season.

Kansas State coach Jerome Tang after the win over Kentucky:
"We had more dudes than they did today." pic.twitter.com/499cd21uz7

— Dominique Yates (@RealDYates) March 19, 2023

“We have a program that’s rich in tradition also,” Tang said. “I mean, like, all those old dudes that played for Kentucky? They ain’t coming back, right? So tradition does not help you if you don’t go out there on the floor and play with some dudes. And we had more dudes than they did today.”

As far as ‘dudes’ go, Tang is right that Kansas State did end up having more of them. Oscar Tshiebwe and Cason Wallace put on great performances.

In the end, though, the Wildcats had more players make more of an impact. They had four players finish in double-figures in the game. That effort was led by guard Markquis Nowell who put on a show with 27 points and nine assists. Keyontae Johnson then followed as he chipped in 13, Desi Sills added 12, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin went for 12 points, six rebounds, four blocks, and two steals on 6-8 shooting.

Either way, this was Tang taking a victory lap after knocking off a blue blood in the NCAA Tournament. He earned it, too, as this fantastic job he’s doing during his first season in Manhattan will continue into next week in Madison Square Garden at the East Regional.