A heated exchange of words between Michigan coach Juwan Howard and Maryland coach Mark Turgeon resulted in Howard being expelled from the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday. The dust lifted, which required coaches to be separated by game officials, as well as team assistants and players, came in under-12 timeout during the second half of Friday’s 79-66 win for the Wolverines. Turgeon suffered a technical foul, while Howard received a double technique before being kicked out of the game as a result of the confusion.
It is unclear what initiated the exchange, but in the video below the Big Ten Network, Howard can be seen approaching the Maryland bank, at which point a screaming dispute begins between him and Turgeon. The discussion took place during a break during the commercial break.
After the game, none of the coaches gave much details about what was said between them.
“This has been going on for three games,” said Turgeon, referring to the two regular season clashes against the Wolverines, both of which were defeats. “I’ve been doing this for 34 years. I called the conference office – the commissioner – to talk about what happened in the first two games. I wouldn’t accept it in the third game. I defended the team and myself. All I said was’ no talk to me’. “
“The league is well aware of what happened in the first two games. They will deal with that from there,” continued Turgeon. “I was as professional as I could be at the time. I defended myself and my program and it grew.”
Maryland, seed # 8 in the Big Ten tournament, had a great start and at one point led by 12 points over the Wolverines with just under five minutes remaining for the first half. But then Michigan had a 16-2 run in the final minutes to take a 40-38 lead to the break.
The game was defined by a series of races by each team with the Wolverines moving away in the final minutes to win comfortably. Michigan will now play with Ohio State winner and Purdue in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday.