Rapid Recap: An update on Nowell's status

Kansas State did not come out with much energy against Oklahoma in Norman. That was a key reason to why they found themselves down 11 points entering the break.

Bruce Weber acknowledged that his team has to begin with more "passion and fight" and especially against Texas if they want to pull off the upset.

Too many second chance points for the Sooners was due to poor effort attacking the glass on defense. Missed easy layups early in the game from the Wildcats were caused by a lack of focus and attention to detail.

Maybe it was the long break between games and the players having a chance to return home for a few days, but Weber expects much more from his club out of the gate against the Longhorns.

Kaosi Ezeagu has been in foul trouble too many times this season, and it happened again on Saturday when he only saw five minutes of action as the starter. Davion Bradford couldn't take advantage of his opportunities by missing dunks and playing poor defense.

Bradford still hasn't fully recovered from a conditioning standpoint since his bout with pneumonia at the very beginning of the season, according to Weber. His breathing has been an issue. He was commended for working much harder to return to form, lately.

He's been staying late and coming in early on days off, so the effort hasn't been non-existent, despite it being a lengthy process.

They need Bradford back to normal because Texas is a much bigger team than Oklahoma, and small ball may not be as conducive to success, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

However, the Wildcats have looked their best this season from an offensive standpoint when they do play with four guards and one big, usually stretch-four Ismael Massoud.

But even against the smaller Sooners, K-State allowed too many offensive rebounds and second chance points. The sooner Bradford can get right, the more versatile the Wildcats can be this season. Ezeagu just has to find a way to avoid foul trouble.

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Kansas State point guard Markquis Nowell missed the game against Oklahoma due to health and safety protocols. Because "the Big 12 doctors have not finalized anything", according to Weber, his status for the Texas game remains uncertain and unknown.

Nowell was in the gym on Sunday for the first time since being ruled out and deemed unavailable. He worked out by himself for obvious reasons.

"But I don't know when he'll be back because we don't have any final word on the number of days," Weber explained on Monday.

Texas has three experienced guards that K-State will key on in Courtney Ramey, Andrew Jones and Marcus Carr. All three have all played a lot of basketball and they can all shoot it, effectively.

The Longhorns have size, but they do trot out a small-ball starting lineup with 6-foot-6 Timmy Allen at the '4'. However, he plays bigger than that.

They have length and athleticism and a coach that expects the most out of his players.

Chris Beard has thrown a lot of different defensive looks this year, depending on the game or opponent. Look for Kansas State to try and find ways to score more in the paint when they do shoot two-pointers.

On the other end, the Wildcats want to keep Texas out of the paint, whether on drives or post feeds. The Longhorns use a lot of isolation, drives and post-ups. The more K-State can force the difficult jump shot, the happier Weber will be on Tuesday evening.