WATCH: Keyontae Johnson gets emotional talking about Jerome Tang
Everything Keyontae Johnson had been through over the past three years was leading up to Saturday night’s Elite Eight matchup between Kansas State and Florida Atlantic.
The Wildcats came up just short, losing to FAU 79-76 in a game that came down to the final possession. The victory is one with program-changing consequences for the Owls — the loss is devastating for Johnson and Kansas State.
After the game, the senior forward was visibly emotional when speaking about his head coach, Jerome Tang for allowing him the platform to make the most out of his second chance at playing basketball.
“The trust he had in me — the belief he had. He was one of the main coaches that showed his care for me, and I trusted him, he trusted me,” Johnson said through tears. “He told me he wasn’t going to fail me, and he did right by that so I just appreciate everything he did.”
What makes the loss even harder for Johnson is the fact that he was forced to sit for most of the game in foul trouble. He was on the bench for the final 12 minutes of the first half, and picked up his fourth foul within the first seven minutes of the second. He totaled 18 minutes on the night with only 9 points to show for it, well below his season-average of 17.4 per game.
Johnson’s teammate Markquis Nowell, who had been the NCAA Tournament’s MVP leading up to the Elite Eight loss, said that the loss of Johnson was a leading factor in the game’s outcome despite scoring 30 points and dishing out 12 assists of his own in the outing.
“It’s always tough when your leading scorer is out with foul trouble. … We tried to stay together, we tried to get easy buckets. And I feel like in the first half, we weren’t playing our game like we usually play our game,” Nowell said. “And I kind of think that’s where they got out in transition and got some easy buckets because we were a little flustered on the offensive end.
“They got every 50/50 ball. It didn’t come down to anything else but them playing harder, them wanting it more. So you’ve got to give a lot of credit to them.”
FAU doubled up Kansas State in rebounds 44-22, including a 14-5 offensive rebounding margin that allowed the Owls to score 15 second-chance points compared to K-State’s two. The Wildcats took better shots, had fewer turnovers and more steals but still trailed for over 23 minutes in the contest.
Kansas State’s efforts, along with the obvious absence of Johnson for pivotal stretches in the game, kept FAU in the driver’s seat for most of the contest. They took advantage of it, and the Owls are now headed to their first Final Four in program history.