For the most part, the Kansas state basketball coach Jerome Tang tried to remain positive, at least publicly, on the struggles on the land of the Wildcats.
But after the defeat of Wednesday evening 80-76 on Wednesday evening against the Center of Florida with Financial Arena in Orlando, he removed the children’s gloves.
“I normally take the blame for stuff and everything, but at one point, some of these guys must appropriate what is going on there,” said Tang during his post-match radio show. “He was very frustrating for me.”
The source of tang’s frustration?
Big Picture was the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second, when the UCF took control of the match and never abandoned its head. The Knights scored 10 consecutive points for an advance of 41-34 at halftime, they extended to 11 with a push of 6-2 after the break.
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“We have to be better. We are not good enough to eliminate games,” said Tang at her post-match press conference. “We lost the eight in the middle today. A 10-0 race to finish half-time and a 6-2 race to start the second half, and a 14-point swing.
“I love the tenacity and fat of our guys. We continue to fight to come back and everything, but at one point, we must not fight to go out and fight at the beginning. Then, you don’t have to worry about the return. But we have to be better.”
The defeat was the fourth consequence for K-State, which slipped to 13-15 in total and 7-10 in the Big 12 with three regular season games. UCF improved at 15-13 and 6-11.
Twice, K-State retreated to a striking distance from 11 points deficits, taking a three-point lead in the first half and pulling in a basket in the last six minutes.
“This was summed up in tightness, the defense of the transition and the rebound,” said Tang. “They were the worst offensive rebound team of the Big 12, and they had 16 offensive rebounds against us, 10 in the second period and three at the bottom of the line.”
The Wildcats forced a turnover with 1:10 on the left of 73-71, but returned it and then abandoned two free throws at 0:36 after Keyshawn Hall of UCF took an offensive rebound.
“It all starts on the defensive,” said K-State Max Jones’ main goalkeeper, who led the Wildcats with 22 points. “We obtained stops and things like that, but we did not get the rebound.
“We could have obtained a lot of points in transition. It was part of the match plan, but we could not go into transition because we did not rebound.”
UCF Sur-Rebonneled K-State, 41-35. The Wildcats had an advantage of 26-17 in reversal points despite the loss of the ball twice more.
In addition to Max Jones, K-State obtained 12 points from CJ Jones, 11 from Brendan Hausen and 10 points with nine assists by Dug McDaniel. Hall had 26 points and Darius Johnson 23 for UCF. The Knights Moustapha Thiam collected 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks.
K-State plays Colorado at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Coliseum Bramlage.
“All we can do is learn about it,” said McDaniel. “We have another one to come, so we cannot recover it. We have to put it behind.”
It decides that it is sufficient.
“We must be sick and tired and change,” said Tang. “We have to do that.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers the sports of Kansas State University for the Gannett network. It can be reached at granted@gannett.com or on x (formerly twitter) at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas state basketball coach Jerome Tang removes children’s gloves after loss
(Tagstotranslate) Jerome Tang (T) UCF (T) Kansas State (T) Max Jones (T) Darius Johnson (T) dug McDaniel
