Maryland has informed the Big Ten Conference that Michigan head coach Juwan Howard threatened the Terrapins’ head coach Mark Turgeon during their in-game confrontation, according to Jeff Ermann of 247Sports.
Maryland alleges Howard yelled “I’ll f—king kill you,” as he was being held back during the under-12 TV timeout in the second half of their Big Ten Tournament game.
Howard was ejected from the game after receiving double techs. Michigan went on to win the game 79-66.
Following the game, Howard claimed he was provoked when Turgeon “charged at me.”
“(Mark) Turgeon saw that I was out of the box, he tells the referee to look at my feet, I’m out of the box, I’m like, come on man, this is what we’re doing today? You’re worried about my feet being out of the box? So he said to me, ‘Juwan, I’m not gonna let you talk to me. You don’t talk to me ever again.’ And he charged at me. “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 on the South Side, when guys charge you, it’s time to defend yourself.”
Turgeon countered that all that he said to Howard was “Don’t talk to me.”
Turgeon added the squabble was a carryover from tension during the team’s two regular season meetings. He also stated Maryland had previously informed the Big Ten office of the issues with Michigan.
“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.”
Squabbles between the two teams have included Maryland native and Michigan freshman Hunter Dickinson taunting the Terrapins bench in their first meeting on Dec. 31.
