Juwan Howard went viral Sunday afternoon for the wrong reason.
After Michigan lost 77-63 to Wisconsin, the Wolverines coach took a swing at a Badgers assistant. The incident then led to a post-game brawl between the two teams.
Here’s a better look at it pic.twitter.com/B8QigoFOrp
— Jay Scott Smith (@JayScottSmith) February 20, 2022
Howard was reportedly upset with a timeout that Wisconsin coach Greg Gard took late in the game. During the post-game handshakes, it appears as if Howard didn’t want to shake Gard’s hand. Gard then put his hands on Howard and stepped in front of him to confront the handshake snub, but the Michigan coach responded by angrily pointing in Gard’s face.
“Someone touched me, and I think it was very uncalled for, for them to touch me, as we were verbalizing and communicating with one another. That’s what escalated it,” Howard said after the game.
Other coaches and players separated the two coaches, but the scuffle continued when Howard took a swing at Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. Players then got involved, with multiple players on both teams pushing and throwing punches.
Closer look at Juwan Howard going after Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. pic.twitter.com/da46edZCuB
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 20, 2022
“Apparently, he didn’t like that I called a timeout to reset the 10-second call, cause we only had four seconds to get the ball over half court and I didn’t want to put my backups. I had all my bench guys in the game, I didn’t want to put them in that position of scrambling with only four seconds,” Gard told CBS Sports’ broadcast after the game. “So I took a timeout and got us a new 10 seconds and helped us get organized and get the ball in and he did not like that when he came through the handshake line. So I’ll leave it at that and the tape will show the rest.”
“I didn’t like the timeout they called, and I’m being totally honest with you,” Howard said. “I thought it was not necessary at that moment, especially with it being a large lead. … I thought that wasn’t fair to our guys.”
The incident reminded some online of one from last season between Howard and then-Maryland coach Mark Turgeon when the two coaches shouted at each other and led to both teams gathering near half court. Howard had to be held back by his fellow coaches and was ejected from that game.
Juwan Howard was ejected after exchanging some words with Maryland HC Mark Turgeon 😳
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 12, 2021
(via @BigTenNetwork)pic.twitter.com/lCuivxNuEm
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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