Rapid Recap: Jerome Tang says Kansas State fans deserved better than that on Saturday

FRUSTRATION FROM THE KANSAS STATE CONTINGENT

It was evident there was a lot of frustration when speaking to the Kansas State contingent in the postgame press conference following the K-State loss to Texas in Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats, across the board, were not nearly as upbeat as they had been after every other contest this season.

It was not just Jerome Tang visibly frustrated and disappointed but Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson as well.

The Kansas State head coach began by praising the crowd and sharing that they deserved better from the players and coaches. Normally, he wants his players to move on quickly from a game, but he wants them to live with the feeling of defeat for the next 48 hours this time.

He hopes they are as upset as he is after losing to the Longhorns.

TURNOVERS PLAGUE WILDCATS

Turnovers continued to be a problem for K-State. They finished the game with 19 turnovers and made 22 field goals. Nowell had six by himself, and that makes it four games in a row where he has had four turnovers or more.

The senior guard is being defended differently now as opposed to the start of the season. Two players are now defending him and speeding him up a little. It is up to the Kansas State coaching staff to put him in spots where he can be relaxed, take what’s in front of him and make the simple play.

Nowell took accountability and said he wasn’t very good on Saturday afternoon and turned the ball over too much. He needs to watch film and find ways to be aggressive without hurting K-State as a whole. He’s aware of his shortcomings.

He and Tang also felt there were points in the game where he was over-dribbling or trying to make the home run play and it cost Kansas State in those instances.

TIMEOUT USAGE

Texas started hot in the second half, but Tang did not call a timeout to try and stop the run. At one point, the Wildcats led by as many as 14. K-State entered the break with an 11-point lead after Tykei Greene fouled a three-point shooter.

However, that lead had completely evaporated by the second media timeout of the second half. The Kansas State head coach defended that decision, explaining that his team was not rattled and that a timeout wasn’t necessary because of that.

He did admit that he probably would have called one if they were playing on the road, but he elected not to on Saturday afternoon and felt that having them available for the finish of the game was actually a help to K-State.

SECOND HALF WOES FROM K-STATE

Texas came out swinging in the second half. They outscored Kansas State 16-6 in the first seven minutes of the frame. They were more physical and aggressive than the Wildcats. One of the areas that flipped was points in the paint.

After winning that category in the first half, K-State failed to defend the lane after exiting the locker room at halftime. The Longhorns out-scored them in that department 22-12 over the last 20 minutes, and that set the tone.

Kansas State was also great on the defensive glass in the first half, but again, didn’t maintain that intensity. Seven of Texas’ nine offensive rebounds came in the second half, and the Longhorns had eight second chance points alone in the game’s final 20 minutes.