The outcome had been determined. Wisconsin was going to win. Michigan was going to lose. There were 15 seconds remaining in a 15-point game, and if Michigan’s players would’ve stopped competing Sunday afternoon the way players in similar positions often do, the game would’ve, I’m certain, ended without incident.
But Michigan’s players didn’t stop competing.
They were playing Wisconsin 94 feet.
So when the Badgers’ backups were on the verge of committing a turnover under pressure, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard called a timeout to reset the 10-second clock and give his players a better chance to succeed. Michigan coach Juwan Howard took offense to this, for some reason. And when the two passed each other in the postgame handshake line after the Badgers’ 77-63 victory, Howard pulled his mask down and told Gard “I’ll remember that shit.” In response, Gard stopped Howard to try to explain why he called the timeout.
Things were clearly getting heated. CBS Sports’ Andrew Catalon recognized as much. So the cameras stayed focused on the scene. Then, incredibly, Howard smacked Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft in the face, which, unsurprisingly, set off a melee.
It was a wild deal.
At some point soon, the Big Ten will announce a punishment that is expected to include a suspension for Howard. And if you want to argue Gard should also be punished to some degree because he should’ve completely ignored Howard in the handshake line, never put his hands on him regardless of what he said and just kept it moving, fine. I hear you. But don’t forget the root of this entire deal was Howard getting mad about a timeout Gard called only because Michigan’s players were still competing.
“I didn’t like the timeout they called. … I thought it was not necessary at that moment, especially with it being a large lead,” Howard said afterward.
You know what else wasn’t necessary at that moment? Michigan’s players trying to turnover Wisconsin’s backups in the final seconds of a 15-point game. So the unnecessary stuff started with Michigan, which is why Howard’s anger was misplaced and frankly silly. If you want the game to end with no more timeouts called, back up and let the clock run out. But the moment Howard instructed his players to keep competing is the moment it became reasonable for Gard to do whatever he wanted to help his players succeed, and that’s what he did when he called that timeout.
What Krabbenhoft said to escalate things remains unclear.
I’d like to know that, obviously.
But there was only one coach who got mad for no good reason Sunday, and only one coach who got physical with another. It was Juwan Howard. And that’s why he’ll be the person punished most severely, deservedly so.
Wisconsin remains No. 10 in Monday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Badgers’ next game is Wednesday at Minnesota.
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