Kansas State men's basketball coach Jerome Tang didn't hold back in slamming his players after what he described as an "embarrassing" 91-62 home loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
In a brief but tense postgame news conference that lasted just over two minutes, Tang questioned his team's pride, saying the players "don't deserve" to represent the university after a lackluster effort that resulted in a fifth straight loss for the Wildcats (10-14) and dropped them to 1-10 in the Big 12, tied for last in the conference.
"These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform," Tang said. "There will be very few of them in it next year. I'm embarrassed for the university. I'm embarrassed for our fans and our student section. It is just ridiculous."
He continued: "It means something to wear a K-State uniform. It means something to put on this purple, and everything this university is about and why I love this place. They don't love this place, so they don't deserve to be here."
Several fans in the Kansas State student section wore paper bags over their heads to express their contempt at the Wildcats' performance, which included falling behind 30-11 in the first eight minutes and trailing 53-31 at the half after Cincinnati (13-12, 5-7) shot 57% from the field.
The margin peaked at 32 points when the Bearcats' Jordi Rodriguez hit a 3 with about 3 minutes remaining.
When told afterward about the Kansas State student section, Tang scoffed, "I'd wear a paper bag too, if I was them," before storming out of the news conference.
Kansas State's next game is Saturday on the road against No. 3 Houston.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
