It was supposed to tipoff at 9 p.m. on the night of March 12 in Frisco, Texas.
 
It was going to pit two of the hottest teams in Conference USA against one another in an early quarterfinal battle. One had won four of their last five, the other five of their last six.   
 
And if recent history was any indication, it was going to come down to the wire to decide a victor. 
 
A total of 295 days later (and a new calendar year), Louisiana Tech and Marshall will finally go head-to-head on Friday in Ruston after being matched up to play the game that was never played.
 
It was the strangest of days because college basketball games don't get canceled.  It's as rare as seeing a white peacock or a blue lobster or a flying fish.  Or in LA Tech-related terms, it's as rare as seeing Speedy Smith go a game without having an assist.    
 
One can think back to 2012 when Ohio State, Florida, Georgetown and Marquette had games canceled because the basketball floors aboard the USS Bataan became too wet because of condensation. 
 
Or in 2011 when head coach Eric Konkol was an assistant at George Mason and the Patriots were scheduled to play Towson.  But Towson never showed.
 
"You had to drive around D.C. and around Baltimore and an hour and a half could turn into two or three hours," remembered Konkol.  "There was always a little bit of trepidation in that trip.  We never had an issue going there.  We would leave right after shoot around and get there early.  This one game though, there was a forecast for snow.  And Towson was scheduled to come play us.  We went through shoot around, pregame meal.  Towson never made it.  We had to play the next night."
 
Assistant coach Duffy Conroy had never been part of a canceled basketball game (playing or coaching).  Plenty of youth baseball games though.    
 
"Baseball, yeah with rainouts, but not a basketball game," recalled Conroy.  "I remember growing up watching ESPN in the early 90s, I was getting ready to watch NC State and North Carolina.  And Operation Desert Storm had just happened and that game was canceled."
 
But on that infamous Thursday, 58 games – including Louisiana Tech vs. Marshall – were called off.  Wiped out.  Eliminated.  And so too was the rest of the 2019-20 season.
 
Before the quarterfinal matchup was set, the Bulldogs had to wait the night before to see who would be their opponent.  Either Marshall or UTEP.  They were also tuned in to what was going on around the country.
 
"I went over to that game to scout it and see who our matchup would be the next day.  And things started to happen," said Conroy.  "Us coaches got back to the hotel and were in full mode of breaking them down.  But within that, we started getting information of how other things were going on around the country.  It was a strange evening, working into the night not knowing what was going to happen."
 
"The assistants went to the game and I went to dinner with the team," said Konkol.  "We were all sitting and talking and I clearly remember when someone said the Utah-Oklahoma City [NBA] game just got canceled.  I remember having a sick feeling in my stomach.  I remember being with the coaching staff, very late, watching Marshall and talking about Marshall, but we couldn't help but also talk about what was going on around the country."
 
A little over a month prior, after 13 lead changes and seven ties, it took overtime to figure out who would win between the 'Dogs and the Herd in Huntington, West Virginia.  Marshall would take it, 83-79. 
 
It marked the second straight season where an extra frame was needed to decide a winner.  Think back to 2016 when the game would have gone into OT had it not been for Derric Jean's half court buzzer-beater.  There was also the 94-90 nail biter in Ruston in 2017. 
 
So it would have not been shocking if that March 12 meeting would have needed more than 40 minutes to figure out who would advance to the semifinals.
 
"There are similar playing styles, but different in construction," said Konkol.  "There is a lot of free-flowing basketball going on.  There have just been some really interesting matchups in this series.  You think back over the years about the matchups.  Alex Hamilton versus James Kelly.  Erik McCree versus Jon Elmore.  Derric Jean and DaQuan Bracey against Taveion Kinsey and Jarrod West."
 
Sadly, the senior duo of Jean and Bracey did not get another shot at Kinsey and West and the Thundering Herd.  What was going to be a long, long day with the after-dark tip turned into a long, long day for a different reason. 
 
"We were set to go into our scouting report mode with our team at 11 a.m. that morning prior to our shoot around time," said Conroy.  "We had the video screen ready and were going to show the team a breakdown of Marshall.  How to guard them and how to attack them. 
 
"We got word that the Big Ten Tournament had been canceled and I remember having my computer in front of me, and I just gently shut it because I knew the inevitable.  We soon got the official word about the C-USA Tournament being canceled and then we had to tell our team, our seniors."
 
As fate would have it, LA Tech and Marshall will open up conference play against one another for the 2020-21 season on New Year's Day. 
 
The season won't be over for whoever wins this game.  In fact, they will turn around and play again less than 24 hours later on Jan 2. 
 
Call it a make-up game for the game that was never played.