WATCH: Greg Gard reacts to postgame punch thrown by Juwan Howard
Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard couldn’t have realized how upset Juwan Howard was. Following a 77-63 loss Sunday afternoon, the Michigan coach took his frustration out by throwing a punch at Gard in the handshake line postgame.
In a TV interview with CBS Sports, Gard explained what Howard said to him in the moments before things got heated.
“Apparently, he didn’t like that I called a timeout to reset the 10 second call,” the Badgers coach said. “We only had four seconds to get the ball up the court and I didn’t want to put my backups in the game. I didn’t want to put them in that position of scrambling with only four seconds. So I took a timeout and it got us a new 10 seconds and helped them get organized to get the ball in. He did not like that when he came through the handshake line. I’ll leave it at that and the tape will show the rest.”
Juwan Howard was clearly the instigator in the situation, getting in Greg Gard’s face, pointing and eventually delivering the punch. This led to all-out pandemonium as players and staff from both sides did their best to separate the two.
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The timeout in question came with just 15 seconds remaining and the Badgers holding a 15-point advantage. Although Howard certainly has a right to be upset, he clearly responded inappropriately. But the coach doubled down on his choice to throw the punch, according to Detroit Free Press reporter Michael Cohen.
“Juwan Howard has not apologized for anything that happened,” Cohen tweeted. “Said he was upset about Wisconsin calling a timeout late in the game. He expressed that frustration to Greg Gard. Howard said Gard touched him during the postgame line and he felt the need to defend himself.”
The loss dropped Michigan to 14-11 on the season as its NCAA Tournament chances appear to be getting slimmer and slimmer. The Wolverines are running out of time to get their season back on track, with just five games remaining before the Big Ten Tournament.