KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An inspired 20-point comeback against unbeaten Drake was exactly what Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang and his Wildcats were looking for to turn their season around.
The fact that they came up short in a dramatic 73-70 loss Tuesday night at T-Mobile Center just opened fresh wounds for a team that by most accounts has underachieved.
Just ask forward Coleman Hawkins, who minutes after the game ended already experienced the vitriol of fans disappointed with the Wildcats’ 6-4 start. Right or wrong, his message to the team was that it is time to circle the wagons.
“Me personally, I feel like it’s us versus everybody,” said Hawkins, the Illinois transfer who led the Wildcats with 16 points, five assists and four steals. “I can’t go on my phone without people wishing the worst for me and wishing not just for me, but for our team, and it devastates me.
“I just went on my phone and saw someone say, ‘I hope you break your leg.’ Like that’s the kind of stuff that our team has been dealing with all year, and it affects me so much because I don’t wish that upon my worst enemy.”
Hawkins has borne the brunt of fan criticism in large part for a massive name, image and likeness (NIL) deal he received, reported to be worth $2 million, after transferring to K-State from Illinois.
Against Drake, he hit a tying 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in overtime, only to see Bennett Stirtz answer with one of his own for the Bulldogs at the three-second mark for the win.
The fact that fans already are turning on a K-State team that still has one nonconference game left Saturday at Wichita State before diving into a rugged Big 12 schedule does not sit well with Tang. He emphasized the need for patience with a roster largely built with transfers, albeit supported with a hefty NIL war chest.
“It’s a shame some of the comments these guys get,” Tang said. “For any fans, or any people who are reaching out to say negative things to these guys, man, shame on you. Shame on you.
“I’ve got a great group of dudes there, and they are working really, really hard, and they’re trying to put together into just a few months what some other teams have multiple years to do.”
Drake’s team also has a preponderance of transfers, but the difference is that four of the starters — including Stirtz and Mitch Mascari, who combined for 47 points in the game — accompanied first-year coach Ben McCollum from Northwest Missouri State.
One positive for K-State is the fact that it managed to fight back from a 29-9 deficit late in the first half and actually had a chance to win the game in regulation. Tang had no beef with the Wildcats’ effort.
“So proud of our guys’ effort, their fight, their togetherness, their buy-in. All the things that we’ve been stressing and pushing and fighting for, those guys came through, and they gave us a great effort that was good enough for us to win.
“But we have to do a better job as a staff and help them in those situations there. I should have done a better job at the end of regulation (a 3-point miss by Brendan Hausen), and I definitely should have done a better job at the end of overtime to set our defense and help our guys in those situations.”
Hawkins cautioned fans against counting the Wildcats out just yet.
“We go out and we practice every day; we play hard,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can.
“So, my message would be it’s us versus everybody, and we can control what we can control, and all the other stuff we’ll just have to tune out and lock in the rest of the way come conference play.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
