Michigan Coach Juwan Howard Explains What Led to Postgame Physical Altercation with Wisconsin Assistant [Videos]

Things took a turn for the worst when Michigan’s Juwan Howard and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard got into a physical altercation at the end of Sunday’s basketball game.

Wisconsin’s victory 77-63 didn’t sit well with Howard after a viral video showed the coach taking a swing at the assistant coach.

It looks like some words were exchanged, leading to the outburst. After the game, Howard revealed what exactly happened leading up to the moment. Apparently, it was over a late timeout.

“I thought it was not necessary at that moment, especially being a large lead. To have the timeout be called with three or four seconds to go, I thought that was, what I felt, wasn’t fair to our guys.”

Howard added he felt the need to protect himself once Wisconsin’s Gard touched him unnecessarily.

“I think that was very uncalled for him to touch me as we were verbalizing and communicating with one another. That’s what escalated it…Touching me unnecessarily when we were talking, at that point, I thought that was time to protect myself.” 

There isn’t any say on the repercussions for both teams’ involvement in the altercation. However, the Big Ten Conference released a statement about the incident. 

“The Big Ten Conference is aware of a physical altercation involving Michigan Head Coach Juwan Howard at the conclusion of the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball game. The conference is in contact with both member institutions and is currently assessing the incident. The conference will provide more information and will take swift and appropriate disciplinary action when it completes its review.”