Forget what you thought you knew about the Michigan – Maryland basketball rivalry. An altercation between U-M head coach Juwan Howard and the Terps Mark Turgeon, one that resulted in Howard’s second-half ejection, was the result of bad blood brewing between the two programs leading up to the Wolverines’ 79-66 win.
It seemed to start in Michigan’s 84-73 victory in College Park, when Maryland native Hunter Dickinson (six points in 22 minutes Friday) went off for 28 against the Terps. He was dominant inside, and he let the Maryland bench know about every finish with a look after every hoop.
Sources say that didn’t sit well with the Terps after the game, and it spilled over to words between the coaching staffs after the game. Turgeon suggested as much following Friday’s loss, the third straight double-digit setback to the Wolverines this season.
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“This has been going on for three games. I've been doing this for 34 years, and I've called the conference office,” Turgeon said. “I called the commissioner about what transpired in the first two games, and I said I wasn't going to take it the third game.
“So, I stood up for my team. I stood up for me.”
There were rumblings that Turgeon or someone on his bench referred to banners coming down from the Fab Five era, but Turgeon denied it.
"All I said is, ‘don't talk to me. Don't talk to me,” he said. “ ... Never backed down. I just stood there and said, ‘don't talk to me. That's it.’
“The league is well aware of what's transpired the first two games, and they'll handle it from here. But I was, I thought, as professional as I could try to be in the moment, standing up for myself ... 34 years of doing it the right way, and for Maryland basketball. So that's all I did was stood up for myself and Maryland program and said, ‘don't talk to me.’”
Howard denied knowing anything about Turgeon’s complaints to the Big Ten office. He also disputed the Maryland’s coach’s view of the events, which came with U-M up 57-47 and 11:09 remaining.
“I noticed that [Galin] 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,” Howard recalled. “I’m like, 'no, that’s not how I saw it.’ I was out of the coaching box. I went down to explain exactly it was off of Smith. It’s tough to communicate when it’s loud, and also you have masks on.
“Turge saw I was out of the box, was telling the ref look at my feet, I’m out of the box. I said, ‘come on man; is this what we’re doing today? Worried about my feet being 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 every game.’ And he charged at me.”
That’s when Howard said he stood up for himself.
“I don’t know how you guys were raised, but how I was raised by my grandmother and also by Chicago — because I was also raised by Chicago, and I grew up on the south side — when guys charge you, it’s time to defend yourself, especially when a grown man charges you," he said.
“That right there, I went in defense mode, forgetting exactly where I’m at, because that’s not the right way how to handle the situation. When you come at and charge someone … he didn’t charge him. He charged me, and I reacted. I reacted out of defense.”
Words were exchanged, he said — and again, there are multiple versions of what was said — and he was tossed after getting two technical fouls to Turgeon’s one. Maryland went on a 5-0 run, but timely threes and huge buckets by Eli Brooks (16 points, four rebounds) pushed the lead back to double digits.
Maryland made one more run, cutting it to six with 5:15 remaining, but U-M pulled away to advance to Saturday’s Big Ten semifinal.
Howard was remorseful in the postgame.
“I want to first apologize to my team, and I did in the locker room, for my actions. That’s not the way how you handle situations like that in adverse moments,” he said. “You can’ let your emotions get the best of you.
“I love the fact that all our guys stepped up and supported their coach. They know I always support them. But I’m always going to take ownership when I’m wrong and admit when I’m wrong. That’s not the right way to handle that situation.”
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