Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang takes connecting with his players to heart

A year ago, when a rough February stretch threatened to derail Kansas State basketball’s Big 12 season, Jerome Tang and his staff decided to pull their foot off the gas.

The Wildcats were coming off back-to-back road losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma, which were struggling in their own right, and they had dropped four of five to fall to 6-6 in the conference after a torrid start.

So they shortened practices, gave the players a few more days off, and the team responded with a four-game winning streak that in turn helped pave the way for a deep NCAA Tournament run.

Fast forward to last week, after a fourth straight loss, at last-place Oklahoma State, again had the Wildcats reeling. They had just dropped below .500 in the conference at 4-5 after a 4-1 start, and No. 4-ranked Kansas was coming to town just 48 hours later.

Kansas State basketball’s overtime magic strikes again in Sunflower Showdown win over KU

After some soul-searching, Tang pinpointed a different issue, one that had little to do with fatigue. The response from the Wildcats, however, was the same as they snapped out of their funk and stunned the Jayhawks, 75-70, in overtime Monday to the delight of a sellout crowd.

“Our struggles to this point have been more connection struggles, rather than physical ability struggles, and as a staff we’re trying to spend more time with those connections,” Tang said afterward. “I have to do a better job with our guys and connect with their hearts, and I think that’s the first step.”

For one night, at least, all was well again with the Wildcats, who improved to 15-8 overall and got back to even in the Big 12 at 5-5. The challenge now is to sustain it moving forward, starting with a 9 p.m. (CT) Saturday road game against No. 19 Brigham Young (16-6, 4-5 Big 12) at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.

“We just dealt with their hearts,” Tang said of the quick turnaround for the KU game. “I hadn’t connected with them the way I connected with the team last year.

Kansas State basketball must turn the page with a visit from rival Kansas looming

“And so, you can see they were just playing basketball. They weren’t playing with this love, joy and freedom that we talk about, (and) they weren’t doing it because they loved us as a staff.”

Two days may not have been enough times to change the players’ hearts and minds, but Tang thought it might have lit a spark.

“As a staff, if we can connect with their heart, and then they play because they love us and they know that we’re doing what we’re doing because we love them, it gives them that little extra fight,” Tang said. “And I thought I saw that fight (Monday) because I was transparent with them and told them I hadn’t done a good job.

“And our staff did a really good job. We spent a lot of time together the last couple of days, but it was less about basketball and more about how much they mean to us, and how much we believe in them and how much we believe in what they want to do.”

Kansas State basketball’s skid reaches four with 75-72 road loss to Oklahoma State

Point guard Tylor Perry, who has had his ups and downs but scored 21 of his game-high 26 points after intermission, including eight in overtime, said Tang’s message going into the KU game resonated with the players.

“Anything’s possible, that this is what we’re supposed to do, and he honestly said that we can play better than we did,” Perry recalled. “That’s just the type of person he is.

“He always believes you can do so much better, and he believes in us so much, and he just instils so much confidence in us throughout the whole team. We’re so blessed to have the best coach in America, and I wouldn’t want nobody else running the show for us.”

Beating KU was a much-needed shot in the arm for the Wildcats, but Tang is hopeful that it also triggered a major resurgence for his team, which still has work to do in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March.

“There’s still a stronger heart connection that can take place,” he said. “We can continue to play better basketball.

“But they told on themselves how good they can be. And now it’s up to us to love them to want to be at that level all the time.”

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.