What we learned: The return of Kaosi Ezeagu

Kaosi Ezeagu had not only lost his starting job, but he had lost any playing time. He did not see the floor in the prior two contests against West Virginia and Iowa State. To be honest, we though he wouldn't see another meaningful minute the rest of the season.

To his credit, he stayed ready when Bruce Weber and Kansas State needed him on Saturday. Ezeagu scored nine points, collected three rebounds and swatted a shot in 13 minutes of play in the second half against Oklahoma State.

Ezeagu called his head coach on Tuesday morning after the win over the Mountaineers and asked what he could do to get on the court. Weber's response was for him to produce and Ezeagu did just that in Stillwater.

Weber also wanted the former UTEP big man to keep his head up because he knew he was going to need his contributions against the length and physicality of not only the Cowboys, but Kansas on Tuesday.

Mark Smith praised Ezeagu for being mature and for being a spark when they needed it the most. It takes a good teammate to stay ready under those circumstances. He was a bruiser down low versus Oklahoma State.

The Wildcats have proved their resilience time and time again this season and Saturday was no different. Down by seven with 3:55 to go, K-State came roaring back to tie it and had a chance to win it in regulation.

Outside of the massive hole with 3:55 to go, Kansas State was constantly fighting to claw back into it. Oklahoma State shot 51 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three and the Wildcats finished shooting 35 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from deep.

Weber called it an amazing feat that K-State was even in the game with a chance to win given how the Cowboys played on Saturday.

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It was almost the exact same script as the first game with Oklahoma State. Kansas State had the ball with a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. And it was in Nijel Pack's hands, but his runner in the lane was blocked and that sent it into overtime.

Weber told his sophomore guard, that if the Cowboys were bodying him up, to take it to the hoop and try and draw a foul since they were already in the bonus. Isaac Likekele made it a tough look with his defense and didn't allow a good look for Pack.

Pack had hit the game-winner over Likekele earlier in the month.

Even Pack called it great defense by Oklahoma State. They took away any space for him to get a shot off on the outside and forced him into the paint, and even though there was a bit of contact, he was not going to complain about not getting that call in the final seconds.

Mike McGuirl hit two massive three-pointers in overtime to spark the offense, which struggled at times in the extra period. He finished with 14 points. That is just one shy of a season-high.

It was a big-time performance for the super senior. He also led K-State on the play-hard chart. However, coming unglued from Bryce Thompson on the perimeter hurt the Wildcats a bit.