Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang on his technical foul
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang goes into detail about the technical fould he drew late in Saturday’s game against Houston.
HOUSTON — A rough two-game road trip might cost Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang more than just a couple of losses.
For the second straight game, Tang was whistled for a technical foul Saturday in the closing minutes of the Wildcats’ 74-52 blowout loss to Houston. He now faces at least one, if not two, fines from the Big 12 office.
Unlike the one he picked up Wednesday night at Iowa State, when he claimed not to have said anything to the official, Tang went into detail on the interaction with referee Gary Maxwell that got him teed up with 5:06 left against Houston with the game long out of hand.
“I have thoughts on it,” Tang said. “They didn’t tell me how much the fine was, so my wife might be kind of mad at me.”
Related: Kansas State basketball vs. Houston recap: Cougars roll to 74-52 victory
Tang said he called out Maxwell after K-State guard Cam Carter picked up his fourth personal foul at the 5:06 mark with Houston comfortably ahead, 64-41.
“I got a tech for waving my hand the last game, and so I didn’t wave my hand this game, and then I got a tech for telling Gary (Maxwell) that he was the adult and he needed to act like it,” Tang said. “Because he was chirping with one of my players, and I’m always going to defend my guys.
“(If) my guys are wrong, I’m going to correct them. What Gary Maxwell did and said to my player was not warranted, and all I told him was he’s better than that as a person, and he’s the adult, and I got a tech for that. I don’t get it.”
Carter, who led K-State with 16 points and grabbed five rebounds, fouled out 19 seconds after picking up his fourth.
Related Kansas State basketball poised for another Big 12 road test against elite Houston defense
“(Maxwell) told Cam Carter that if he wasn’t quiet, he would get him out of the game, and then proceeded to call two tic-tac fouls on him,” Tang said. “You’re the adult here, right? We can tuck our egos away and say let the kids play the game.”
Tang seemed resigned to the fact that there will be consequences.
“It’s OK, because that’s the position I’m in, and that’s the position (the officials) are in, and they have the authority in that situation, and so we take it and we move on,” Tang said. “But there’s got to be accountability for everybody’s actions.
“Mine are you all see it on national television, and I get a tech and have to answer to my (athletics director). I think everybody in this game should have accountability for something.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
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