Wichita State was coming off of their first conference win of the season. Nothing was going their way early in the year, and that showed when they lost their first four conference games and were sitting at 7-8 overall. But they took down Central Florida, the preseason American Athletic Conference favorite, hoping it could be the turning point of the season.

But then Cincinnati happened.

The Bearcats were picked to finish second in the AAC. The Shockers were holding their own in the second half, the game seemed like it was within grasp. Senior guard Samajae Haynes-Jones hit a three-pointer with 7:06 remaining in regulation to take a one point lead. Cincinnati responded with back-to-back threes of their own to take a five point lead.

After then-sophomore Asbjørn Midtgaard missed a shot, the Bearcats were going the other way to try to put the game away. Throughout the game, they had their chances to, but WSU always hung around. It seemed like the ensuing possession could decide the game, even with over five minutes to go.

AAC Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland drove towards the basket for the Bearcats. WSU’s Jamarius Burton fouled him. While he was getting up off of the ground, it appeared that Cumberland had some choice words for Shocker guard Erik Stevenson, who went to help up Burton. Then Stevenson muttered the words.

I’m not afraid of you.

Boom. Technical foul.

Gregg Marshall was livid. Stevenson calmly walked to his coach, and told him, “I told him ‘I’m not afraid of you.‘” Marshall then darted at the nearest official. It took the entire bench to hold him back.

Boom. The second technical.

The Bearcats went to the charity stripe for six shots. Two for each technical, plus the two from the original foul. They sank all six.

The Shockers were able to cut the lead back down to six with 1:12 remaining, putting some hope back into the fan base. With the too little, too late rally, the Shockers put full-court pressure on the Bearcats in the backcourt. On an in bounds play, Cincinnati’s Cane Broome was clearly trapped on the sideline. Running out of time, he motioned and yelled for a timeout. The ref blew his whistle. But Stevenson was called for a foul.

The fan base let the refs hear their frustrations.

Refs you suck! Refs you suck! Refs you suck!

At the end of the night, Gregg Marshall was also visibly upset, and he made it known during the press conference. Marshall was able to hold back his anger until the end, referring to the job the referees did.

“That was the worst officiating I’ve seen in a long time,” Marshall said. “I felt like a road team inside Koch Arena.”

But Thursday is a whole new story for the Shockers. This time around, they aren’t playing for their lives. This year’s team is 17-4 and has a chance to break last season’s regular season win total with a victory against the Bearcats.

At the same time, the bad blood is still there. Cumberland and Stevenson will likely be matched up together at some point during the game yet again. The Bearcats are also looking to stay undefeated inside Charles Koch Arena as they are a perfect 2-0. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN.

“You need to win, you don’t want to go on a losing streak we’ve done that once,” Marshall said on Tuesday. “To me until someone beats Houston or Cincinnati, they have dominated the league since we’ve been in it. Both play really, really hard.”