The idea of Koch Arena as a living, breathing, screaming participant in basketball games is never more prominent than during the lead-in to a big one.
Thursday's game vs. No. 21 Memphis is one of those games, talked about from the moment of schedule release and subject to extraordinary hype and an all-black color scheme. Shockers who played in those games over the years remember the environment fondly.
"You know ahead of time – there's an energy that is building," said former Shocker Zach Bush, who played from 2013-17. "You come out for warmups and there's more people than normal.