Watch: LSU Coach Will Wade, Louisiana Coach Bob Marlin Have Heated Exchange During NIT

It got a bit wild late in Wednesday NIT game between LSU and Louisiana.

Wednesday's opening round NIT game between LSU and Louisiana probably had more hype around it than any other NIT game will have this year.

On Monday, Louisiana coach Bob Marlin made some comments ahead of the contest questioning why his team was the lower seed and thus the road team despite having a higher RPI and the second most wins of any team in the NIT.

According to The Advocate, Marlin said:

We would like to play this game at home. Our athletic director reached out to the commissioner and to a couple others to get a read on the seeding and how that happened. ... Our RPI is much better, our record is much better, we feel like our gym’s better, there are a lot of things that say we should be a higher seed than we were. We’ve got the second-best record in the entire tournament out of 32 teams, but it is what it is. ... We haven’t gotten an answer yet. There’s a lot of the old-school guys on that committee that just think LSU’s better than we are. They haven’t seen our facilities or looked at the finer print about our team. ... But we’re excited to play a short trip, and I think LSU will be excited to play,” he said. “Sometimes, a team that tied for ninth in their league isn’t interested in playing. But they haven’t been very good for a couple of years, so the NIT is a big step for them. ... I called Will when he got the job; I didn’t ask him right then about playing, but I have since then and they’re not interested. They probably didn’t want to play this game, to be honest.

The Ragin' Cajuns RPI rank of 63 was much better than the Tigers' rank of 94, but LSU also had seven wins against NCAA tournament teams compared to zero for Louisiana and a much higher strength of schedule. When the teams met up Wednesday, the Tigers picked up an 84-76 win to end the Ragin' Cajuns' season and advance to the second round of the NIT.

Late in the contest however, the coaches needed to be restrained from each other. And that comes after almost not addressing each other before the game.

Check out some of the interactions between Wade and Marlin from Wednesday below.

For a bit, it did not appear that #LSU Will Wade and Ragin' Cajuns' Bob Marlin would shake hands before the game. Wade finally walked over to the Cajuns' bench and the exchange was very brief. @WAFB @TigerDroppings pic.twitter.com/GEczXsRXpL

— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 14, 2018

Video 1: ULL coach Bob Marlin held back from Will Wade WITH 12 SECONDS left pic.twitter.com/kjHVSliVoT

— Alex Hickey (@bigahickey) March 15, 2018

Video 2: Will Wade goes a little berserk about something postgame pic.twitter.com/GcHuD9m0dq

— Alex Hickey (@bigahickey) March 15, 2018

Video 3: A minor ULL-LSU fracas after the coaches have left the floor. pic.twitter.com/pNypbU14K9

— Alex Hickey (@bigahickey) March 15, 2018

Will Wade timeout. Yells at Bob Marlin. Oh boy. pic.twitter.com/KuufTDR9fv

— Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) March 15, 2018

And after the game, the coaches commented on what Marlin said in advance to the contest.

Here’s #ULL coach Bob Marlin on #LSU coach Will Wade’s postgame comments and Marlin’s pregame comments. pic.twitter.com/N3l92y91GD

— Billy Embody (@BillyEmbody) March 15, 2018

It doesn't seem likely these teams will be playing each other again in the near future, but if the coaches are going to be this intense in the next matchup, it needs to happen sooner rather than later.