Julio Cortez/Associated Press
Maryland has alleged that Michigan men’s basketball head coach Juwan Howard threatened to kill Terrapins head coach Mark Turgeon during their verbal altercation in Friday’s Big Ten tournament clash.
The Terrapins told the Big Ten that Howard yelled, “I’ll f–king kill you,” when the two coaches were screaming at each other, per Jeff Ermann of 247Sports. Howard was ejected from Michigan’s 79-66 victory for the incident.
“This has been going on for three games,” Turgeon said. “I’ve been doing this for 34 years and I’ve called the conference office. I called the commissioner about what transpired in the first two games. And I said I wasn’t gonna take it the third game. And so I stood up for my team, I stood up for me.”
Big Ten Network@BigTenNetworkJuwan Howard was ejected during the last timeout.
Here’s a look at what transpired: https://t.co/rd5T99zAtC
Ermann noted that Maryland complained Howard made disrespectful comments toward the team’s bench during their regular-season meetings. The Terps also said that freshman Hunter Dickinson taunted their bench.
Howard explained to reporters what happened from his point of view:
“(Mark) Turgeon saw that I was out of the box, he tells the referee to look at my feet, Im out of the box, Im like, come on man, this is what were doing today? Youre worried about my feet being out of the box? So he said to me, Juwan, Im not gonna let you talk to me. You dont talk to me ever again. And he charged at me.
“I dont 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, its time to defend yourself.”
Assistant Phil Martelli, formerly the head coach for Saint Joseph’s, took over for the Wolverines after Howard was ejected.
Michigan will face rival Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament’s first semifinal game Saturday. It will likely land a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance regardless of how it fares against the Buckeyes, which it beat in their sole regular-season matchup.