Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang not willing to let his Wildcats 'Die Hard'
STILLWATER, Okla. — The way Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang sees it, his Wildcats have a decision to make.
After a disappointing 75-72 Big 12 loss to last-place Oklahoma State on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Wildcats have dropped four straight and there is only one way to snap out of it.
"Losing is not fun. Anytime you lose, it doesn't matter if we had won 10 in a row and then lost one," Tang said. "It doesn't matter.
"Like, this is our movie. We can choose to be victims, or we can choose to be stars in this movie. We're going to be the ones that determine how it turns out, not somebody else, or the narrative or the obstacles that are in our way."
To make his point, Tang went on to reference the 1988 action movie classic Die Hard.
Related: Kansas State basketball looking for ways to get offense back on track at Oklahoma State
"Die Hard wouldn't be great if Bruce Willis got killed in the first scene, right" he said. "When he (went), 'Oh, why me/ No shoes,' and he gets killed, the movie wouldn't have been a great movie.
"He chose not to be a victim. We're going to choose not to be a victim."
With the loss to Oklahoma State, K-State fell to 14-8 overall and dropped below .500 in the Big 12 for the first time at 4-5. But after falling by double digits to nationally ranked Iowa State, Houston and Oklahoma to start the skid, at least the Wildcats had a shot against the Cowboys (10-12, 2-7).
Cam Carter had an open look at a 3-pointer with the clock winding down, and Tylor Perry even took a desperation heave at the buzzer after grabbing the rebound.
What irked Tang and his team was what proved to be a fatal stretch to end the first half and then the Wildcats' inability to regain control after intermission. K-State led by as many as eight points in the first half before a 12-point run late in the period gave Oklahoma State a 29-27 lead at intermission.
Related: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang takes blame for blowout loss: 'This is on me'
K-State trailed by nine points in the second period and were still down eight with less than 3 1/2 minutes remaining before rallying down the stretch.
"I thought we started the game all right, because we hadn't been starting games well the last few, and so that was a plus for us," Tang said. "We just didn't close the half well, and they came out the second half and we didn't guard anybody in the second half.
"Part of it is they rose up and made shots and players making plays, and part of it is that we weren't as locked in as we needed to be."
So just what will it take for the Wildcats to get their mojo back with No. 8-ranked Kansas coming to Manhattan at 8 p.m. Monday for the first chapter of the Sunflower Showdown?
"Just get back to doing what we do best," said Perry, who scored all of his team-high 19 points in the second half. "Like coach said, that's scrapping, guarding, rebounding and just playing together.
"He says it all the time, (that) there's no fairy dust that we can use, and this is a tough league. So, every night is going to be a battle, and it's up to us at the end of the day."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.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Jerome Tang: Kansas State basketball must decide not to play victim
