"I don't sense a lot of rabbit ears one way or the other," Crean said following a team practice.,”Marquette head men's basketball coach Tom Crean said Friday that he did not think referees were enforcing the bench decorum rules too much differently than they had in past seasons.

"I don't sense a lot of rabbit ears one way or the other," Crean said following a team practice. "They're allowing the coaches to coach their teams and the games, and if you cross the line as a coach, they're going to let you know about it, and they're going to ring you up with a technical if you deserve it."

Crean said he deserved the only technical foul he has received this season – during a Dec. 15 win over Sacramento State – and that some referees have given "a reminder" when Crean has treaded on the outskirts of the prescribed coaching box.

In fact, Crean said he became more aware of his positioning on the sideline long before the NCAA mandated this fall that referees become stricter in their enforcement of bench decorum rules.

"I tried to make a much more concerted effort as a coach of being in that box ever since we've gotten in the Big East," Crean said. "I know I abused that sometimes in my younger days of coaching of being out of it, not in a way to badger the referees or to belabor a point, I don't think it was that. You know, you want to get the attention of your team in a hostile environment, and they can't hear you.

"But I'm much more cognizant of that right now."

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