In First Game Without Jerome Tang, K-State Flourishes Behind Nate Johnson and P.J. Haggerty

You figured Kansas State would come out flying or maybe just mail it in Tuesday night in the Wildcats’ first game since head coach Jerome Tang was fired for cause.

K-State took the high-flying ground. The Wildcats defeated Baylor, 90-74, ending a six-game losing streak. Next up for the Wildcats (11-15, 2-11 Big 12) is 13th-ranked host Texas Tech, which will be without star forward JT Toppin, who suffered a torn ACL against Arizona State on Tuesday.

Tipoff on Saturday is 1:30 p.m. (CT), on Fox.

Wildcats guard Nate Johnson, who scored 33 points against Baylor, talked about the message the team received from interim coach Matthew Driscoll.

“First, just honor Coach Tang,” Johnson said a postgame news conference. “Obviously he’s not here with us, but still follow his message and just to stay positive and come more together as we already have been.”

Driscoll said the players were affected by Tang’s dismissal.

“First of all, the first thing you’d think about based on the season, the way the season was going, is you would say, OK, now we’re really going to see how these guys feel about the coach,” Driscoll said in a news conference.

“And they were unbelievably, just heartbroken and just crushed [about Tang being fired]. And these dudes love coach [Tang], because coach is so real.

“He’s so transparent, he’s so genuine. And everything that he does and everything he touches, he touches with love, and those guys know that. I mean, he recruited [them] all, I didn’t recruit a single [player]. I had nothing to do with any of them.”

What’s left of the season for the Wildcats

K-State has five regular-season games remaining, the final one at rival Kansas on March 7, before the Big 12 Tournament. At 11-15 (2-11 Big 12), the Wildcats are relegated to a spoiler role — a mission that isn’t enviable but it’s what the Wildcats are left with and will have to deal with.

In a season with high hopes — the Wildcats started 5-0 and had one of the top guards in the nation in P.J. Haggerty — K-State was forced to make adjustments. The Wildcats lost their share of close games. And playing in the Big 12, there is little to no margin for error.

Defeating Baylor was only the Wildcats’ second win of 2026. Such struggles led to where K-State finds itself. In a season that went sideways, the Wildcats find themselves with an opportunity to salvage some positivity.

Tang fired on Sunday

K-State fired Tang on Sunday less than a week after the former coach criticized his players, saying, among other things, that they didn’t deserve to wear the K-State uniform.

Kansas State interim head coach Matthew Driscoll yells at his team during the second half against Baylor at Bramlage Coliseum. | Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

“These dudes were just so pliable. They handled the change really well,” Driscoll said. “And when they came back Monday, it was like,‘OK, we’re tipping off against Baylor at 8 o’clock tomorrow night, here’s what we’re going to do.’

“And we told them, we’re not going to change, but things are going to be different.”

Haggerty, Johnson carry the Wildcats

Haggerty scored 34 points for the Wildcats. Johnson took on the role of point guard from Haggerty. What better time to experiment with roles than in the depths of a losing season?

“I mean, we’ve been trying to help [Haggerty] basically get open off the ball,” Johnson said.

“Because of him having been on the ball, they try to trap him a lot. So me being on the ball just basically helps us more offensively to get him more open shots. I mean, let him do what he does best, and that’s score the ball.”

Haggerty saw what Johnson was doing with the offense and it was more than distributing the ball.

“How many 3s did [Johnson] hit today?” Haggerty said. “My boy Nate was shooting like Steph Curry out there. He got hot early. He just does it all: rebounds, passes, scores, he did everything.

“[He] sees things sometimes I don’t see. But just playing with him has been great the whole year. He just makes it easy for me because he can create for himself and others, but it’s been a lot of fun.”

Baylor coach on K-State

Baylor coach Scott Drew knew his team might run into a storm in Manhattan.

“I hated playing them right now, but I think the game started with Nate Johnson hitting those 3s to begin, and leadership-wise I think he’s really done a great job in the last week, just from watching press conferences and his leadership,” said Drew, whose team is 13-13, 3-10 in the Big 12.

Baylor coach Scott Drew directs his team during the first half against Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum. | Scott Sewell-Imagn Images

“His 33 points, his efficiency, nine assists, five rebounds, we didn’t have anybody that could guard him, and [Haggerty] always does what he does, and that’s score.”

Leadership roles for Wildcats

“At the end of the day, coaches told us, player-led teams are the best teams,” Haggerty said. “Coaches can motivate us, tell us what to do, but at the end of the day, we’re the ones on the court.

“So we just stand together. Just keep going. Just never quit. You just can’t ever quit. You never know what can happen, but just keep our minds straight and just stay positive.”

Johnson said his role changed and expanded, too, under Driscoll.

“I would say that’s really the key part,” Johnson said. “[Coach Driscoll] asked me earlier, even before the season, just to be more vocal and be more of a leader.

“And it kind of took me basically to see what he wanted me to do. He wanted me and a couple of more players to step up and be more vocal and be more leaders as players, instead of having to rely on our coaches.

“It’s just showing right now that we are more together because we're starting to rely on each other.”

Haggerty said: “Like Nate said, a little different [coaching style of Driscoll compared with Tang] at the end of the day. We are all just trying to come together as a team and try to keep winning.”

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