‘It’s not on him. It’s on us’: Kansas State players defend Bruce Weber after TCU loss
Kansas State basketball fans were understandably upset after the Wildcats squandered a late lead and lost in agonizing fashion 60-57 against TCU on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Much of their anger, at least on social media, was directed at Bruce Weber. The K-State coach who has shared two Big 12 championships and reached one Elite Eight during his time in Manhattan is losing popularity now that his team is three years removed from its last winning record.
Starting this season 8-7 with four consecutive losses at the start of conference play was no way to buck that trend. But K-State players think it is unfair that Weber takes so much blame when things aren’t going well. They would prefer it if fans pointed the finger at them instead, especially after what transpired against the Horned Frogs.
“Bruce is a very good coach, man,” junior guard Markquis Nowell said. “I see all the slander on the internet, but that guy has a really big heart. He knows what he’s doing. He did his job preparing us. It’s not on him. It’s on us.”
Weber returned to the K-State sideline on Wednesday after missing the team’s previous two games against Texas and West Virginia with COVID.
The Wildcats got off to impressive starts during their two games without Weber and possessed a second-half lead in both contests before losing control late. Sound familiar?
K-State led TCU 57-53 with 30 seconds remaining and its win probability surged above 90%. But the Horned Frogs made a series of clutch plays down the stretch while the Wildcats completely collapsed. TCU scored the final eight points of the night. K-State finished on a scoring drought that lasted 1 minute, 48 seconds.
Its miscues featured a missed three-pointer and a free throw by Mark Smith, a missed layup by Davion Bradford, a missed layup by Nowell and a costly turnover by Nijel Pack.
Nowell, who led the Wildcats with 18 points and seven steals, took blame for all that poor execution. He went out of his way to defend his coach.
“He isn’t the one shooting free throws and threes at the end of the game,” Nowell said. “He’s a very good coach. He doesn’t only teach you about the game, he teaches you about life lessons and things you can learn off the court. I just want to win for him. I want to win for the coaching staff. I know they’re tired of losing. They put their heart and souls into the game plan and into the scouting report. It’s just sad to see that we can’t finish games.”
Smith, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds against TCU, echoed those comments.
“I want to win for him too,” Smith said. “Knowing how Coach Weber is, he’s probably going to come in here and take the blame for the loss. It’s definitely not on him, because he had us prepared for every situation that we were going to face tonight. It’s just sad ... I want to get wins for Coach Weber and the coaching staff because of how they treat us and how they show us love. We need to return the favor and get some wins. This one is really on us.”
Nowell and Smith didn’t begin their college basketball careers at K-State, but they have quickly become some of the most valuable players on the team since joining the roster as transfers this season.
Both are regulars in the starting lineup.
Nowell, an Arkansas-Little Rock transfer, is averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 assists at point guard. Smith, a Missouri transfer, is averaging 10.6 points and 8.4 rebounds as a wing. Each of them are putting up impressive numbers and having solid individual seasons. But they are both still searching for their first Big 12 victory.
Disappointing as that is, they believe things can turn around quickly if they fix a few things.
“I appreciate that,” Weber said. “We’ve talked a lot about them taking accountability and taking responsibility for the team. I think we’ve made some strides. I thought this week their film sessions, from what I was told I obviously I wasn’t there, they started taking responsibility and we made progress.”
K-State entered this season hoping to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. That seemed like a realistic possibility when the Wildcats started the year 8-3 with road wins over Nebraska and Wichita State. But those results won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things if K-State can’t back them up in the Big 12.
An 0-4 start has the Wildcats now fighting to avoid the Big 12 cellar. Fourteen conference games remain. If losses keep coming, this could be Weber’s final season at K-State. His players seem to hope that is not the case.
“That’s definitely on us,” Smith said. “We have got to move on. Obviously, we have got a big game on Saturday that we’re going to come in ready to go for. I feel like guys are actually mad. That’s the energy in the locker room. We need to start getting wins for Coach Weber.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘It’s not on him. It’s on us’: Kansas State players defend Bruce Weber after TCU loss."