Jerome Tang following Kansas State's loss to Cincinnati: 'These dudes did not deserve to wear this uniform'

On a night where several Kansas State fans donned paper bags on their head, the Wildcats dropped their 14th game of the season. The Wildcats fell to Cincinnati at home 91-62, marking their 10th loss in their last 11 games.

Kansas State star guard P.J. Haggerty scored 24 points on 11-18 shooting, but was the lone Wildcat player to score in double-digits. The Wildcats trailed 53-31 at halftime, and were outscored by seven in the second half of the blowout loss.

Following the blowout loss, Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang went scorched earth on his team’s effort. With the loss, the Wildcats fell under .500 since Tang took over the program for the 2022-23 season.

“This was embarrassing. These dudes did not deserve to wear this uniform,” Tang said. “There will be very few in it next year. I’m embarrassed for the university, I’m embarrassed for our fans, our student section. We have practice at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. We will get this thing right. I have no answers and no words.”

Jerome Tang references fans wearing paper bags following Kansas State’s loss to Cincinnati

Since the Wildcats made a run to the Elite Eight in Tang‘s first season, they are just 45-46 over the past three seasons. They were knocked out of the NIT First Round in 2024, failed to make the NCAA Tournament in 2025, and look poised to miss the NCAA Tournament once again in 2026.

A few of the paper bags on the heads of K-State fans read ‘We ain’t got dudes’, ‘Anybody got $18,675,000 (referencing Tang’s buyout)’, ‘Donors save us’, and ‘Carl Ice (prominent K-State booster) save us’. Tang also referenced the bags postgame.

“I’d wear a paper bag too, if I was them,” Tang said.

Things don’t get any easier for Kansas State this season either, as it still has matchups against No. 3 Houston, No. 16 Texas Tech, and No. 9 Kansas looming over its final seven regular season games. Unable to make up 10 wins in eight games, Kansas State has now posted three consecutive sub-20 win seasons for the sixth time in its past seven seasons.

If Tang is afforded another season in Manhattan, it surely would be make or break for the former National Championship winning assistant coach. The Wildcats have not had winning stability since Bruce Weber departed following three consecutive losing seasons from 2019-21, and the fanbase is getting extremely restless.