Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang on loss to Wichita State
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang breaks down the Wildcats’ loss to Wichita State on Saturday night at Koch Arena in Wichita.
WICHITA — Kansas State basketball’s finale in a four-game series with Wichita State on Saturday night — a disappointing 84-65 loss, by the way — might also be the last time the two teams get together for a while.
An enthusiastic crowd of 8,253, a fair number of K-State fans included, gave its stamp of approval for continuing the rivalry, and so did Wichita State coach Paul Mills. But Tang, the blowout loss notwithstanding, is not so sure.
“This game, it’s kind of like the (Big 12/Big East Battle series). It doesn’t do anything for us,” said Tang, whose Wildcats also were blown out at St. John’s two weeks ago to start their current three-game skid heading into Big 12 play. “And especially with more conference games going on, playing 20 conference games, the fact that we can play some games for NIL to help your players and help you with recruiting in that aspect, there’s just so much more that goes into it.”
Mills, a longtime friend and colleague of Tang’s from their days as assistant coaches at Baylor, gave his full-throated endorsement for continuing to play a series that was resurrected with a four-year contract that included games at both schools’ home arenas as well as neutral-site games in Kansas City and at Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena. But he also had an inkling that Tang was not as enthusiastic about it.
“Jerome was at my house earlier this summer, somewhere in July,” Mills recalled. “We were sitting there watching film and talking through a number of things, and as he was leaving, I asked him, I said, ‘We’re extending the series, right?’ And he said, ‘Smarter people than you and I will make that decision,’ so we’ll see.
“But if we were able to play in Bramlage (Coliseum in Manhattan), I know how difficult of a place that is to play. And I think this is just good for the state of Kansas, to play in your home arenas. And I get that people want to play neutral-site games, but I think it means a lot to play in each other’s home arena.”
K-State and WSU played each other regularly in the 1980s and into the ’90s, but after a four-game series from 2000-2003 it went dormant until the current agreement that just expired. K-State won the first three meetings from 2021-23 before being blown out in the second half by the Shockers on Saturday.
“So, Mills and I are now 3-3,” Tang said. “We were 2-2 in high school and 1-1 here in college.
“I know it’s important. Our fans enjoy it and their fans enjoy it and stuff, but if it’s not going to help us improve as a program and put us in a better position, I don’t know if that’s something we that I necessarily want to do.”
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.
