kansas state Men’s basketball coach Jerome Tang called it “embarrassing” and did not hold back in criticizing his players afterward. 91-62 home damage cincinnati Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
In a brief but tense news conference lasting just over two minutes after the game, Tang questioned his team’s pride, saying players are “not worthy” of representing the university after a lackluster effort that resulted in the Wildcats (10–14)’s fifth consecutive loss and dropped them to 1–10 in the Big 12, last in the conference.
“These people don’t deserve to wear this uniform,” Tang said. “There will be very few people in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university. I’m embarrassed for our fans and our student body. This is absolutely ridiculous.”
He added: “Wearing a K-State uniform means something. Wearing this purple means something, and everything about this university and why I love this place. They don’t like this place, so they don’t deserve to be here.”
Many fans in the K-State student section wore paper bags over their heads to express their contempt for the Wildcats’ performance, which included falling behind 30-11 in the first eight minutes and trailing 53-31 at halftime after Cincinnati (13-12, 5-7) shot 57% from the field.
When the Bearcats’ margin reached 32 points Jordi Rodriguez Hit 3 with about 3 minutes left.
When later told about the K-State student section, before exiting the press conference, Tang scoffed, “If it were me I’d wear a paper bag too.”
Kansas State’s next game is Saturday against No. 3 houston cougar.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
