Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang talks about the loss to LSU
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang blamed himself for not having the Wildcats ready to face LSU in their first loss of the season.
K-State Athletics
MANHATTAN — Kansas State basketball Jerome Tang struggled to find anything positive about the Wildcats’ first serious setback of the young season.
The only silver lining might have been the timing.
“The great thing about this is it’s early in the year, and it doesn’t end your season,” Tang said after LSU dominated his Wildcats for all but the first 11 minutes on the way to a convincing 76-65 victory Thursday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
“Coach (Matt) McMahon did an unbelievable job with his team. This was a good, old-fashioned butt-whooping, and so give them all the credit for tonight.”
Tang was not nearly as charitable reflecting on his own role in the loss, which saw LSU take control midway through the first half and never let K-State get closer than nine points in the second period.
“The fans were great, and I want to apologize that we didn’t give an effort that was worthy of wearing a K-State uniform, and that falls solely on my shoulders,” Tang said. “I did not do a very good job of having our guys prepared today.”
With the loss, K-State fell to 2-1, while LSU improved to 3-0. The Wildcats have one game left in their four-game homestand to start the season, taking on Mississippi Valley at 7 p.m. Tuesday before heading to the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands starting next Friday.
“It’s going to be really easy to get them focused on Saturday,” Tang said of his team’s next practice. “The eye in the sky doesn’t lie, and so it’s going to be really easy.
“It’s not the first time we’ve lost a game. I just don’t like losing at home. One of our goals is to go undefeated, and we blew that tonight, and that’s on me. And so, I’m pissed about that.”
K-State hung with LSU threw the first 11 minutes that produced 11 lead changes. But with 9:08 left in the period, ex-Wildcat guard Cam Carter drained a 3-pointer to trigger a decisive 16-2 Tiger run.
Carter, a senior who spent the previous two seasons at K-State, led all scorers with 20 points. Point guard Dug McDaniel and forward David N’Guessan each had 10 of their team-best 16 points in the first half to keep the Wildcats within striking distance.
Defensively, K-State forced 16 turnovers and committed just seven, but the Tigers made up for it by shooting 50% and dominating the boards to the tune of a 43-25 rebounding advantage.
One bright spot for K-State was McDaniel, the Michigan transfer making his first start as a Wildcat. In addition to his 16 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, he had five assists and two steals.
N’Guessan, K-State’s most consistent player through the first three games, echoed Tang’s sentiments about the timing of the loss.
“I feel like we can learn from it. We can look back at some things we can do better,” said N’Guessan, who made 6 of 10 shots, including his only 3-point attempt. “I’m just glad it’s early in the year and we can learn from it. We’re not in March yet.
“It’s early in the season. Obviously, we want to win. We don’t want to lose, especially at home, but we can’t let one loss lead to another.
“It happened. We’ve got to take care of our bodies, be ready to learn and get better during practice on Saturday. On to the next thing,”
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 X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
