For the first time since his Sophomore year of high school, Dean Wade didn’t get the start Saturday for Kansas State against #1/2 ranked Oklahoma, but it didn’t stop him from having the best game of his career in a K-State jersey.

The highly touted 6′ 10″, 225 lb. freshman out of St. John, Ks, had started every game this season up until Saturday night. D.J. Johnson started in Wade’s place, simply because he had been playing better than Wade as of late according to Bruce Weber.

“I have talked to Dean and I have talked to his parents. He knows it. I told him to get mad at me. I want you to be mad at me. I am going to sit you down, and I want you to be mad because he just needed a little fire,” said Weber.

It apparently worked as Wade finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the Wildcats 80-69 upset of Oklahoma.

Wade says he wasn’t mad that he was benched, because he is hardly ever mad, but instead,”It let me feel the game more, just watching and being able to see how it was going, with the speed of the game, it settled me down. I was a lot more comfortable when I came in.”

Wade wasn’t the only player to contribute off the bench for Kansas State as Justin Edwards also finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.