Print edition: 
Sunday's Wichita State-Missouri State basketball game at Koch Arena was hardly a game fitting for Valentine's Day; in fact it was one of the most physical games of the season. And, honestly, nobody was in a very good mood five days after the loss to Evansville.
The Shockers needed to play and they needed to win. Sunday, they did both, beating Missouri State, 66-64, and showing once again what a special season it has been.
You don't scoff, of course, at a team with a 21-6 record. Wichita State hasn't lost at home and has as good a chance as anybody else to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis early next month.
The Evansville loss didn't ruin the season. It just made it more difficult to find a path to the NCAA Tournament.
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall, as honest as the day is long, isn't happy with some in the media (namely, me) for its treatment of the Shockers after the Evansville loss.
In a column, I said it might rank as the worst loss in Wichita State basketball history because of the significance of the Shockers' at-large chances for an NCAA Tournament bid and because it was the only Valley win of the season so far for the Purple Aces.
I was surprised that Wichita State didn't play with more urgency in that game because the Shockers have played with it for most of the season, including Sunday night's game.
One of the things I like most about Marshall is that he speaks his mind and never holds a grudge. You never guess where he stands on a matter, but once he gets his feelings out he just as quickly clears the air.
He didn't appreciate some of the media comments after the Evansville game. Especially some of mine, both in print and on the radio.
"Some of you guys were too harsh, yeah,'' Marshall said. "And you're right at the top.''
I don't think I was too harsh. I backed up my contention that the loss at Evansville might rank as the Shockers' worst ever with facts. I didn't suggest revoking any scholarships. I didn't call out individual players for their performances.
I wrote that losing to the Purple Aces was embarrassing and damaging for the team. Judging from the comments I heard from fans, I don't think I was the only one who thought so.
The best thing about fans, though, is that they're forgiving. Nobody is jumping off the Shockers' bandwagon; if anything, Sunday's crowd was one of the most boisterous of the season.
This team and this coach have a kinship with the community I haven't seen since the early days of Gene Smithson. Marshall's passion is contagious. You can't watch him do his job on the sideline and not feel some fire invading your belly.
"I know you've got to do your job,'' he told me after Sunday's game. "You're a professional and you've got to do your job."
He understands the job of a columnist. He doesn't always agree with what I write. I'd worry about him if he did. But he gets it and I dare say it's even fun to banter with him when there is a disagreement.
"What you did after that game, I can't do," Marshall said. "You throw 'em under the bus, I can't. When you say it's the worst performance, the worst loss in 40 years, that they were disgusting, all of that — the adjectives and adverbs were pretty harsh.
"And I got to get those same guys up to win another game. But you guys don't; you guys can say all that. If I say it, they're probably not going to want to play for me or for anybody else."
I wondered how Wichita State would react after the Evansville loss because it was the kind of defeat that can test resolve. The Shockers didn't play particularly well against Missouri State, but they stayed with it and used some stifling defense to go on a 9-0 run late, turning a 56-53 deficit with 4:30 remaining into a 62-56 lead after a couple of Toure Murry free throws with 35 seconds to play.
Because the Shockers are most often resilient and tough, it's not easy to understand how they occasionally show up without their sharp teeth.
It happened at Evansville. It happened at Drake. It even happened, to an extent, at Creighton. Those are all games Wichita State is good enough to win.
This team is scrutinized and perhaps sometimes unfairly. But that goes with the territory because Shocker basketball is the biggest game in town and 10,506 routinely show up at Koch Arena to watch Wichita State play.
Even more watch on television, listen on the radio and follow the blogs.
"We had not played well in the last couple of games,'' Marshall said. "I don't think that's indicative of the season we've had. And tonight, we beat a very good Missouri Valley Conference team."
Five nights after losing to a bad one.
That was then, this is now. WSU is 21-6 and gets to extract its revenge Wednesday night when Evansville visits Koch Arena.
The Shockers, like I said, made their road to the NCAA Tournament more difficult. But the road isn't washed out.
The last thing Marshall said to me Sunday night was that I'd probably be singing a different tune after the Shockers win the Valley tournament. I think everybody in Wichita will be singing if that happens.
