The noxious nature of Xavier's rivalry with intra-city foe Cincinnati found a dense, myth-making new chapter Saturday when Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin made a move toward Xavier senior J.P. Macura after their game ended. Xavier landed an 89-76 victory on its home floor.

Cronin had to be restrained and was quickly ushered off the court and back to the locker room by two men, one of them being Lamar Simpson, one of three referees who officiated the game.

CBS Sports obtained video (posted above) of Cronin approaching Xavier's bench, courtesy of Mark Morse, a Xavier fan in attendance. A separate angle of Cronin was posted to Twitter by another fan. It's an ugly look for any coach. In this case, it's something that will stick to Cronin's reputation in that city for as long as he's with the Bearcats. Musketeers fans will never let him forget it -- just like Cincinnati fans will never stop shouting back to Xavier fans just how insufferable they think Macura is. 

Confrontations between coaches and opposing players are frowned upon, if not outright derided, in every level of sports. It's a line that shouldn't be crossed. Seldom do we see the threat of actual physical confrontation, which is what made Saturday's turn of events all the more shocking, especially given the recent history of this rivalry. It's not like this was the first explosive on-floor clash between Xavier and Cincy in decades. The fumes from 2011's infamous, notorious brawl -- which led to eight ejections and that game getting called with less than a minute remaining -- are still detectable in the Queen City. 

On Saturday, Cronin said Macura's F-bombs elevated the situation. He did not apologize for his actions.

"I've never had a kid tell me to 'F off' three times before," Cronin said in his postgame presser. "During the game and after the game. You know who it was. Same guy it always is every game. Fifteen years I've been a head coach. Five years with [Bob Huggins], two with Coach [Rick] Pitino. Never seen anything like it." 

Cronin then dropped a quote that would prompt Xavier coach Chris Mack to give an even more passionate press conference diatribe moments later.  

"Where I come from, there's nothing to talk about," Cronin said. "If he was playing for me, he wouldn't play. Wouldn't play for me."

Mack strode into the press room and, despite declaring that Cronin v. Macura "is not going to be the narrative" of the game, nonetheless said this: "There are two sides to the story. There was a reason their coach was issued a technical in the game. There's a reason for that. I know that reason because the official told me what happened. So I'm not going to have a narrative be anything be other than us playing better than Cincinnati and beating Cincinnati today."

A source told CBS Sports that Cronin was "profane" with Macura throughout the game. Cronin opted to not interact with Macura in the handshake line, and when that happened Macura chirped at Cronin -- who heel-turned and made his way toward the oft-bold senior, shouting at him as he approached.

In defending Macura's actions against Cronin, Mack made sure to reference an in-game encounter he had with former Cincinnati player Lance Stephenson, who was coached by Cronin.

"As far as 'He wouldn't ever play on my team,' I'm going to go back to 2009 and 2010 when I was the head coach and Lance Stephenson in front of me, right in front of me, called me the N-word three times and said 'F you,' " Mack said. "After the game, guess what I did? I shook his hand. I shook his hand. That's it. There is no narrative, there is no narrative. We won. A year ago, we got our ass kicked. Guess what Mack did? Got our ass kicked, shook hands. I'll answer questions about that, about the game. I'm not answering any questions about he-said she-said when there's two sides to the story." 

When Cronin was asked for further comment on Macura, he stopped himself from providing any more social media and message board kibble. 

"I thought I was really clear about it," he said. "I don't have anything else to say. I was really clear with my statement." 

UNC-Duke is college basketball's biggest rivalry, and Louisville-Kentucky might be its "best" one -- but Xavier-Cincinnati is undeniably the most volatile and vicious in college basketball. Tempers flaring on each side, intra-city bragging rights. This season it boasted two Top 25 teams with Final Four aspirations. Xavier and Cincinnati have never both been as frequently as good at the same time as the past five years -- so is this tremendous or what? 

The hate flows, and it's refreshing to see. The coaches hate what's happened here, obviously. Those directly employed or affiliated with Xavier and Cincinnati can't be out-and-out proud of what happened on Saturday. Those people have the right to resent it. It's a natural response. But they're inside the circle. From an outsider's perspective, this is what college basketball could use more of. Hostility garners interest. At a time when rivalry games are seemingly harder and harder to keep going on an annual basis, Xavier and Cincinnati give fans across the country compelling reasons to be invested. 

Please, let me be clear: Cronin and Macura deserve reprimand. Two reactions can happen at once, though. Let's not toss phony outrage into the air. Macura and Cronin took this basically as far as it could go without crossing over into the reprehensible. Short of physical altercation, this level of cattiness is good! Good sportsmanship should win out, but not everybody has to like everybody else. Most fans will acknowledge that sports is better when genuine, DNA-ordained hate is injected. Usually it's the fan bases who supply all of that. When you get players and coaches on each side falling prey to it, it's just more interesting. 

One official who has done Xavier-Cincinnati games told CBS Sports on Saturday it's "one of the toughest games to work in the country."

There best not be any discussions about putting this rivalry on hold. (Macura will graduate this season, so his days of crossing Cronin are over.) Watching the game on TV, it was undeniable how great the Cintas Center environment was. This game deserves to be held in on-campus venues. 

On a personal level, Cronin needs to apologize. That he didn't at the press conference was surprising, but speaks to the emotions still boiling. The fact he clearly made moves toward Macura is amateur hour, no matter what Macura said. As the coach, as a man more than twice Macura's age, you've gotta curl your toes and keep heading toward your locker room. But Macura's not without blame here. He's unafraid to speak his mind and play the foil, but at a certain point enough's enough. Take the win and refrain from mouthing off to Cronin after you just beat him in the last game you'll play against his team. 

Afterward, Macura reached for his phone and dropped a two-emoji response. Yes, he went with the smirky face. 

Regardless, Mack did the thing a coach should do by standing up for his player after an emotionally charged game.

"It's crazy," Mack said of Cronin's character analysis of Macura. "J.P.'s my guy. J.P. will fight for every inch on the basketball court. He's a great kid. I'm not going to let anybody control the narrative on who they think J.P. Macura is. I'm around him every day. He's a warrior. He's a great kid. He does things the right way. He's made mistakes just like every kid on their team and every kid on our team, and probably everybody in here in college. To say 'he wouldn't play for me,' I think that's really disrespectful. And that's why I said in 2009, 2010, we handle it the way we thought was more appropriate."

Mack, who also cited Cronin as a "friend" at his press conference, said he's open to talking this out and clearing the air whenever Cronin wants.

One element that makes Xavier-Cincinnati so good is that the schools are separated by 3 miles but get to play only once a season because they don't share a conference. I wish these two would be meeting again in a month. More rivalries like this in college basketball, please. Hate and hoops makes for a great combination -- in scattered doses.