After the first quarter, both SMU and Memphis assumed everything would calm down. Nine fouls in 10 minutes was a lot. But everyone, officials included, regroups after each quarter. Surely, someone in the three-member officiating squad would say: Let’s let them play.
In the second quarter, the teams made it 90 seconds before the next whistle. The next one came 21 seconds later. And another 29 seconds after that.
“It was so hard to just play basketball, to just play free, without a ref blowing a whistle,” said Ki’Ari Cain, the only Memphis starter not to foul out of that January 2024 game.
“It just felt like — don’t touch anybody,” said former SMU guard Reagan Bradley.
From the radio booth, Tyler Springs, the voice of Memphis women’s hoops, painted the picture: Players stunned and staring off into space; others approaching the referees with varying degrees of animosity.
“At a certain point, I felt resigned to the rhythm of the night, rather than being incensed about it,” Springs said. “It just kept going and going.”
By the end of 50 minutes of play — including two overtimes — 75 fouls had been called in a game that was not unusually physical. The game took three hours and 40 minutes (typical game time: two hours). Ten players fouled out. There were 98 free…
