It may only have been an exhibition game, but Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall was not afraid to tell the referees exactly what he thought of them on Tuesday.
The game, in Montreal against McGill University, turned ugly during the fourth quarter, when Marshall went after the referees after being assessed a second technical foul.
Marshall’s eruption was apparently from a combination of anger at his team’s play and with the officiating, as center Rauno Nurger needed stitches to close a cut and was also concussed during the game.
“I’m definitely not proud of my reaction to that situation, but at some point your players have to know you’re going to stand up for them and you’ve got some fight in you,” Marshall said, via Paul Suellentrop of the Wichita Eagle. “Once I reacted, I said ‘I might as well get my money’s worth.'”
Marshall was so animated that multiple players and coaches had to restrain him.
“He’s a strong old man,” said Wichita State’s Darral Willis.
Wichita State followed up the ejection with a 21-11 run to close out the game and win it. For that, Marshall thanked his players while at the same time conceding that he may have gone too far.
“Perhaps,” he said. “I wasn’t going to do anything physical, but I wanted to make sure they understood what I felt was happening was incorrect and wrong.”
Serious shades of Fran McCaffery happening here. And to think, Marshall is getting this riled up over meaningless exhibition games.
