Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang eager to put a pair of road incidents behind him
MANHATTAN — While Kansas State's basketball team hopes to push the reset button after a pair of difficult road losses last week, coach Jerome Tang also was eager to put a couple of peripheral incidents in the rearview mirror.
To start his weekly news conference Monday, Tang offered an apology for comments he made about an official after drawing a technical in Saturday's lopsided 74-52 loss to Houston. He also made it clear that he was done discussing a postgame exchange with Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger following K-State's setback against the Cyclones on Wednesday.
K-State, now 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 after the road trip, play host to No. 24-ranked Oklahoma (15-5, 3-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
"I want to open by saying that after the Houston game, in the press conference I made some comments about officiating, and there are channels that the Big 12 provides, that if I have an issue that I can follow and go through, and I did not follow the proper protocol, and for that, I apologize," Tang said, directing his regrets to conference commissioner Brett Yormark, Big 12 staffer John Williams, K-State president Richard Linton and athletics director Gene Taylor. "I will make sure that I follow the protocol moving forward, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity that I have to guardian this program."
Related: T.J. Otzelberger refutes allegations of Iowa State basketball spying on Kansas State's huddles
Tang said after the Houston game that he called out Big 12 official Gary Maxwell for "chirping with" with Wildcats guard Cam Carter, who had just been whistled for his fourth foul with 5:06 left. Carter, who led the Wildcats with 16 points, fouled out 19 seconds later.
As for the Iowa State situation, both Tang and Otzelberger downplayed the incident following the Cyclones' 78-67 victory and refused to share details of their exchange in the handshake line. But after a report surfaced in the Kansas City Star that K-State suggested Iowa State representatives had spied on their courtside huddles during timeouts, Otzelberger brought it back up Saturday.
"It's incredibly disappointing that after such an awesome game, an awesome environment and atmosphere, that I even have to begin by addressing something that happened earlier this week," Otzelberger said Saturday after his Cyclones had knocked off No. 8-ranked Kansas, 79-75, at Hilton Coliseum. "The ludicrous rumors earlier this week that somehow we were trying to gain an advantage looking into our opponents' huddles is an affront to our players, our fans and to me.
Related: Houston's defense never let Kansas State basketball off the mat in 74-52 blowout loss
"It's not who I am. It's not what our program is about, and I'm angry that someone would even make that suggestion."
Tang did not take the bait Monday when asked if he wanted to respond.
"No, I don't," he said. "I talked to T.J., and I'm good and he's good."
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: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang addresses remarks about ref
