Juwan Howard ejected after heated back-and-forth with Maryland coach Mark Turgeon
Tempers flared during the second half of Michigan's game against Maryland during the Big Ten tournament on Friday. With a little over 10 minutes to go in the half, Michigan coach Juwan Howard was ejected after getting into a heated back-and-forth with Maryland coach Mark Turgeon.
The incident occurred during a media timeout. Howard walked near Maryland's bench while trying to approach the referees. Turgeon offered up an animated response upon seeing Howard out of the coaching box, and things escalated from there. Howard had to be held back by multiple coaches during the back-and-forth.
Here is the full sequence that led to Michigan head coach Juwan Howard being ejected during the last media timeout. pic.twitter.com/iN5H6ea6bc
— Wes Brown (@W_Brown21) March 12, 2021
Howard was hit with a double technical and ejected for his actions. Turgeon only received one technical, and was allowed to stay in the game.
Michigan led Maryland 57-47 at the time of Howard's ejection. The Wolverines went on to win the contest 79-66.
Juwan Howard and Mark Turgeon address argument after game
Turgeon claimed afterward he told Howard "don't talk to me," and that's what set Howard off.
THIS👉🏻👉🏻 #Maryland Mark Turgeon on the incident that led to #Michigan Juwan Howard’s ejection: “I’ve been doing this for 34 years. I stood up for myself, and my team. I didn’t say anything about a banner. I just stood there & said don’t talk to me.” @WUSA9sports pic.twitter.com/12M9Xf59YR
— Sharla McBride (@SharlaMcBride) March 12, 2021
Howard basically confirmed Turgeon's version of the story, though Howard said the whole thing started when Turgeon told an official Howard was out of the coaching box.
Howard's full comments read:
"Out of respect for everyone's time and during this situation here, I'm just going to say it one time. So, please, write your notes. After this, let's talk about basketball. At the end of the day, I want to first apologize to my team, which I did in the locker room, for my actions. That's not the way you handle situations like that under adverse moments. Can't let your emotions get the best of you. I love the fact how our guys stepped up and supported their coach because they know I'm always going to support them. I'm going to take ownership when I'm wrong and admit when I'm wrong. That's not the fight way to handle that situation.
"My version, because there's going to be so many versions. His version, at the end of the day, my version, I'm going to tell you the truth about how it all happened. I noticed that 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. I was out of the coaching box and I went down to explain exactly that it was off Smith. It's tough to communicate when it's loud and you also have masks on. Turg saw that I was out of the box. He was telling the referee to look at my feet and I'm out of the box. I'm like, come on, man. This is what we're doing today? We're worried about my feet out of the box. He said to me, 'Juwan, I'm not going to let you talk to me. You don't talk to me ever again.' He charged at me. That right there, 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 in the South Side. When guys charge you, it's time to defend yourself. Especially when a grown man charges you. That right there, I went into defense mode and forgetting exactly where I'm at.
"That's not the right way how you handle the situation, when you come at and charge someone. I didn't charge him. When he charged me, I reacted, and I reacted out of defense. That's it. Words were exchanged and then I got tossed. That's the story, like I said. You're going to hear his side, you'll hear my side. Then you guys can write the narrative. That's all I have to say about that."
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