Jerome Tang Previews Homestand with BYU, West Virginia
Feb 22, 2024 | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats host the Cougars for the first time as a conference foe Saturday
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head men's basketball coach Jerome Tang met with the media on Thursday afternoon (Feb. 22) to preview the Wildcats' upcoming homestand against BYU and West Virginia. Links to the audio and a transcript of Tang's availability are above.
K-State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) plays host to the Cougars (19-7, 7-6 Big 12) on Saturday at 1 p.m., CT before making the quick turnaround to host the Mountaineers (9-17, 4-9 Big 12) on Monday at 6 p.m., CT.
Tickets are still available for both matchups and can be purchased at kstatesports.com/tickets.
K-State is coming off a 62-56 loss at Texas on Monday night, in which the team rallied from a 12-point deficit to close within 56-52 with 50 seconds to play. However, behind the play of senior Dylan Disu, who scored 6 of his game-high 20 points in the last 36 seconds, the Longhorns were able to prevent any further comeback, sending the Wildcats to their third straight defeat, all by 6 points or less. Junior Arthur Kaluma led the way with 17 points.
K-State will host BYU for just the second time in school history and the first time as a conference opponent on Saturday. The Cougars held off a late Wildcat rally in Provo, Utah on Feb. 10 to post a 72-66 win. Kaluma led the Wildcats with a game-high 18 points and 8 rebounds, while junior Cam Carter added 14 points. Five different BYU players scored in double figures, including 14 from Fousseyni Traore.
The series is tied at 4-wins each, in this, the first meeting in Manhattan since Dec. 15, 1973.
BYU has won 3 of its last 4 games, including a 78-71 win over No. 11/11 Baylor on Tuesday night at home. The Cougars are one of the most potent offensive teams in the country, ranking in the top 20 in 9 categories, including the third-most 3-pointers at 11.6 per game. Five players are averaging in double figures led by senior Jaxson Robinson, who averaging 13.9 points on a team-best 62 3-point field goals.
Following Saturday's game with BYU, K-State welcomes a West Virginia team for the second time this season after an 81-67 win in the second Big 12 game on Jan. 9 in Morgantown, W. Va. The Mountaineers are led by K-State alum and interim head coach Josh Eilert, who is from Osborne, Kan. The team snapped a 4-game skid with a 77-67 win over UCF on Tuesday night.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On remaining positive through the struggles this season...
"When your guys give you an effort that gives you a chance to win the game, you as a coach realize it only takes minor adjustments. It's like you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our goal as a staff is to figure out how to keep us moving forward. And we talk about getting 1% better every day, you know, putting games in a box and moving forward and, and there's just little tweaks, and if you're negative, you're like an energy vampire, sucking all the energy out of the room. I don't wanna be that guy. And I don't want my team to be that kind of a team. And I do believe that we're like one or two plays away from being able to win. We have lost six one-possession games. You can look back and say what is one thing that we can adjust to change that result. That's our approach as a staff. I'm reading this book, Do the New You, by Steven Furtick. And he says that you're not stuck unless you stop, so we're not going to stop, we're going to keep trying to figure this thing out. Because we're close. And I know when you stack losses together doesn't seem like you're close, but that's why we don't look at it, like six games, we look at it like one game, what can we improve? How are we getting better and moving forward."
On the challenges of playing BYU…
"Their style of play is so different. And I heard somebody compared to football, going into playing someone who now runs the triple option. You got to teach your scout team how to run that triple option that you got to defend a lot of rules that normally apply, or back in the day when no one ran the spread. And then all sudden, you had to play a team that ran the spread is just so different. Their style of play is different than everybody else's in the league. So, some of your defensive rules have to change some of your help side coverages have to change then you have to get your scout team to try and run that and make that adjustment pretty quick. So, it is difficult. (Aly) Khalifa and both Khalifa and (Fousseyni) Traore, they're different, right? They run like two different styles of offense when each guy is in the game. One guy is a dribble handoff guy who can pick and pop. The other guy's more of a ball screen roll post up, playing out of spacing. It's difficult to adjust. You try to be the team with the most energy and take away what they do best, which is shooting the 3. You try to make them score 2s."
On the little things that the team need to do to be successful…
"Catching the ball without babbling it. Dribbling it without it going out of bounds. You know, just those simple things like catching the ball with your eyes. If we catch the ball with our eyes and we have our hands and feet ready, we'll be better shooters and we will be better passers and we can eliminate two or three turnovers that are really self-inflicted. When you're talking two or three turnovers in one possession games that becomes huge."
On David N'Guessan playing through injury…
"So proud of David, his toughness and his leadership. We're having to monitor him at practice and things like that. He's playing through a tremendous amount of pain. But he really cares about his teammates and the team and about winning. And so yeah, I'm real proud of what he has been able to bring to our team."
On the difficulties of making adjustments when you play opponents with such different styles…
"I mean what we're trying to do is figure out what's the cause, what's the common denominator in each that we can then work on because you can't work on everything. We try and figure out what are the common denominators that we really didn't focus on. We got to shoot more catch-and-shoot shots and less off the dribble shots. And, you know, figure out ways to get to the free throw line."
On the extra days following a Saturday-Monday turn…
"You're trying to do two things, prepare for the next game, and maybe even look ahead a little bit, because you got a quick turnaround. You're trying to get your guys' rest, the right recovery because we're in the dog days of February, and it's the healthy teams that win games."
On starting Big 12 play at 4-1 and taking inspiration from that and getting hot…
"Well, somebody's gonna do it. Somebody in the country who is not on the bubble right now or not in the field or is struggling, and they're gonna get hot. A few years ago, David N'Guesssan was at Virginia Tech. And they won seven of their last eight games or something like that and ended up winning the ACC tournament with the hottest team going into the NCAA Tournament. When I was at Baylor, one year we won like seven in a row then lost five of our last six. And then it was another year, we were 2-8 and then won seven of our last eight. I mean, there's somebody in the country who is going to do it, why not the 'Cats? Then going back to that stretch, what are some of the things that you can remember, your team did well, that need to start happening again. In those 5 games, we made shots, we offensive rebound and we got to free throw line."
On the freedom of playing with no pressure…
"We try all the time to play with love, joy and freedom. We play a game, and I know winning is really important. And I want to see these guys win, but on the scoreboard. But, if we try not to help them understand, like feel the other pressures that you have to have because you can't play the game like that. It's not like we have nothing to lose because we have got a lot to play for. But I don't want to put extra pressure on them or, you know, just make it harder than it than it needs to."
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
K-State (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) plays host to the Cougars (19-7, 7-6 Big 12) on Saturday at 1 p.m., CT before making the quick turnaround to host the Mountaineers (9-17, 4-9 Big 12) on Monday at 6 p.m., CT.
Tickets are still available for both matchups and can be purchased at kstatesports.com/tickets.
K-State is coming off a 62-56 loss at Texas on Monday night, in which the team rallied from a 12-point deficit to close within 56-52 with 50 seconds to play. However, behind the play of senior Dylan Disu, who scored 6 of his game-high 20 points in the last 36 seconds, the Longhorns were able to prevent any further comeback, sending the Wildcats to their third straight defeat, all by 6 points or less. Junior Arthur Kaluma led the way with 17 points.
K-State will host BYU for just the second time in school history and the first time as a conference opponent on Saturday. The Cougars held off a late Wildcat rally in Provo, Utah on Feb. 10 to post a 72-66 win. Kaluma led the Wildcats with a game-high 18 points and 8 rebounds, while junior Cam Carter added 14 points. Five different BYU players scored in double figures, including 14 from Fousseyni Traore.
The series is tied at 4-wins each, in this, the first meeting in Manhattan since Dec. 15, 1973.
BYU has won 3 of its last 4 games, including a 78-71 win over No. 11/11 Baylor on Tuesday night at home. The Cougars are one of the most potent offensive teams in the country, ranking in the top 20 in 9 categories, including the third-most 3-pointers at 11.6 per game. Five players are averaging in double figures led by senior Jaxson Robinson, who averaging 13.9 points on a team-best 62 3-point field goals.
Following Saturday's game with BYU, K-State welcomes a West Virginia team for the second time this season after an 81-67 win in the second Big 12 game on Jan. 9 in Morgantown, W. Va. The Mountaineers are led by K-State alum and interim head coach Josh Eilert, who is from Osborne, Kan. The team snapped a 4-game skid with a 77-67 win over UCF on Tuesday night.
HEAD COACH JEROME TANG
On remaining positive through the struggles this season...
"When your guys give you an effort that gives you a chance to win the game, you as a coach realize it only takes minor adjustments. It's like you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our goal as a staff is to figure out how to keep us moving forward. And we talk about getting 1% better every day, you know, putting games in a box and moving forward and, and there's just little tweaks, and if you're negative, you're like an energy vampire, sucking all the energy out of the room. I don't wanna be that guy. And I don't want my team to be that kind of a team. And I do believe that we're like one or two plays away from being able to win. We have lost six one-possession games. You can look back and say what is one thing that we can adjust to change that result. That's our approach as a staff. I'm reading this book, Do the New You, by Steven Furtick. And he says that you're not stuck unless you stop, so we're not going to stop, we're going to keep trying to figure this thing out. Because we're close. And I know when you stack losses together doesn't seem like you're close, but that's why we don't look at it, like six games, we look at it like one game, what can we improve? How are we getting better and moving forward."
On the challenges of playing BYU…
"Their style of play is so different. And I heard somebody compared to football, going into playing someone who now runs the triple option. You got to teach your scout team how to run that triple option that you got to defend a lot of rules that normally apply, or back in the day when no one ran the spread. And then all sudden, you had to play a team that ran the spread is just so different. Their style of play is different than everybody else's in the league. So, some of your defensive rules have to change some of your help side coverages have to change then you have to get your scout team to try and run that and make that adjustment pretty quick. So, it is difficult. (Aly) Khalifa and both Khalifa and (Fousseyni) Traore, they're different, right? They run like two different styles of offense when each guy is in the game. One guy is a dribble handoff guy who can pick and pop. The other guy's more of a ball screen roll post up, playing out of spacing. It's difficult to adjust. You try to be the team with the most energy and take away what they do best, which is shooting the 3. You try to make them score 2s."
On the little things that the team need to do to be successful…
"Catching the ball without babbling it. Dribbling it without it going out of bounds. You know, just those simple things like catching the ball with your eyes. If we catch the ball with our eyes and we have our hands and feet ready, we'll be better shooters and we will be better passers and we can eliminate two or three turnovers that are really self-inflicted. When you're talking two or three turnovers in one possession games that becomes huge."
On David N'Guessan playing through injury…
"So proud of David, his toughness and his leadership. We're having to monitor him at practice and things like that. He's playing through a tremendous amount of pain. But he really cares about his teammates and the team and about winning. And so yeah, I'm real proud of what he has been able to bring to our team."
On the difficulties of making adjustments when you play opponents with such different styles…
"I mean what we're trying to do is figure out what's the cause, what's the common denominator in each that we can then work on because you can't work on everything. We try and figure out what are the common denominators that we really didn't focus on. We got to shoot more catch-and-shoot shots and less off the dribble shots. And, you know, figure out ways to get to the free throw line."
On the extra days following a Saturday-Monday turn…
"You're trying to do two things, prepare for the next game, and maybe even look ahead a little bit, because you got a quick turnaround. You're trying to get your guys' rest, the right recovery because we're in the dog days of February, and it's the healthy teams that win games."
On starting Big 12 play at 4-1 and taking inspiration from that and getting hot…
"Well, somebody's gonna do it. Somebody in the country who is not on the bubble right now or not in the field or is struggling, and they're gonna get hot. A few years ago, David N'Guesssan was at Virginia Tech. And they won seven of their last eight games or something like that and ended up winning the ACC tournament with the hottest team going into the NCAA Tournament. When I was at Baylor, one year we won like seven in a row then lost five of our last six. And then it was another year, we were 2-8 and then won seven of our last eight. I mean, there's somebody in the country who is going to do it, why not the 'Cats? Then going back to that stretch, what are some of the things that you can remember, your team did well, that need to start happening again. In those 5 games, we made shots, we offensive rebound and we got to free throw line."
On the freedom of playing with no pressure…
"We try all the time to play with love, joy and freedom. We play a game, and I know winning is really important. And I want to see these guys win, but on the scoreboard. But, if we try not to help them understand, like feel the other pressures that you have to have because you can't play the game like that. It's not like we have nothing to lose because we have got a lot to play for. But I don't want to put extra pressure on them or, you know, just make it harder than it than it needs to."
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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