We got some fireworks early on Friday courtesy of Michigan and Maryland, but from a rather unlikely source – the coaches.
With Michigan up 10 points with 10:44 remaining in the game, something sparked a verbal altercation between Howard and Turgeon, which resulted in a technical foul for Turgeon and an ejection for Howard.
Here is Howard's interpretation of the incident, from the Detroit Free Press:
"I noticed that (Galin) Smith went for an offensive rebound and it went off his hands last but the referees called the ball out of bounds and I think it was their possession. I’m like, 'No, that’s not how I saw it.' So I was out of the coaching box and I went down to explain exactly, no, it’s off of Smith, I mean, it’s tough to communicate when it’s loud and also you have a mask on.
"(Mark) Turgeon saw that I was out of the box, he tells the referee to look at my feet, I’m out of the box, I’m like, come on man, this is what we’re doing today? You’re worried about my feet being out of the box? So he said to me, ‘ Juwan, I’m not gonna let you talk to me. You don’t talk to me ever again.’ And he charged at me."
...
"I don’t know how you guys were raised but how I was raised by my grandmother and also by Chicago. I was raised by Chicago, I grew up on the South Side, when guys charge you, it’s time to defend yourself," Howard continued. "And especially when a grown man charges you. That right there, I went into defense mode forgetting exactly where I’m at. That’s not the right way to handle the situation when you come and charge someone. I didn’t charge him. So when he charged me, I reacted.
"And I reacted out of defense. So that’s it. Words were exchanged. And then I got tossed. So that’s the story. Like I said, you’re gonna hear his side, you’re gonna hear my side and you guys can write the narrative.”
Turgeon, meanwhile, claims he was reacting to an unspecified issue with the Wolverines from the previous two meetings.
"This has been going on for three games," Turgeon said. "I’ve been doing this for 34 years, and I called the conference office, called the commissioner about what transpired in the first two games and I said ‘I wasn’t going to take it the third game.’ So I stood up for my team, I stood up for me. There’s a rumor out there saying that I said something about the banner, all I said is ‘Don’t talk to me. Don’t talk to me.’ There was nothing about a banner, never backed down. I just stood there and said ‘Don’t talk to me.’ That’s it."
"The commissioner of the league, the league was well aware of what transpired the first two games, they’ll handle it from here. But I thought I was as professional as I could try to be in the moment, standing up for myself, been doing this for 34 years of doing it the right way and for Maryland basketball. That’s all I did: Stood up for myself and my program and said ‘don’t talk to me, then it escalated."
Ultimately, Howard was tossed, but Michigan prevailed in the game, beating the Terrapins 79-66 to punch their ticket to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where they will face Ohio State.
Photo Credits:
Mark Turgeon: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Juwan Howard: Kirthmon F. Dozier via Imagn Content Services, LLC
