Michigan coach Juwan Howard reportedly threatened Maryland coach Mark Turgeon before being evicted during the second half of Friday’s Big Ten quarterfinals.
Maryland told the conference Howard had told Turgeon, “I’m going to kill you,” InsideMDSports.com reported, citing an unnamed source.
According to the report, no formal complaint was filed. Howard is not expected to be disciplined, meaning he will coach in Saturday’s semifinal against Ohio State.
The two coaches had to be separated by officials and other staff after a screaming game between the benches broke out in the second half of the Wolverines ’79-66 victory.
Turgeon told reporters he preemptively called Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren about Michigan challenging his bank during two regular season games.
When it happened again on Friday as Michigan drove to victory, Turgeon said he “wouldn’t play the third game. And so I stood up for my team, I stood up for myself. ”
He was charged with one technical foul, but continued to coach the game, while Howard was thrown out after two technical fouls.
Michigan freshman Hunter Dickinson confused the Maryland bench in a New Year’s Eve win, but the report says Howard did the same instead of throttling his players.
“We have incredibly passionate coaches, incredibly passionate players, incredibly passionate fans,” Warren said on Big Ten Network. “As with all these things, our office judges it from a sportsmanship point of view, which we did after the game. And there is no further action. We believe the officials handled it properly in court and disseminated the situation. “
Howard appeared to be gesturing to the Maryland bench to start the game, but he later said he was trying to discuss a conversation with the officials when Turgeon said, ‘Juwan, I’m not going to let you talk to me! You never talk to me again! ”
Afterward, Howard told reporters, “I was raised by Grandma and Chicago. If a guy attacks you, you go into defense mode … When he attacked me, I responded. “