Mar 12, 2021 4 min read

All Michigan coach Juwan Howard intended to do, he said, when he started walking toward the baseline during the second half of Friday’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals was question a call.

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon, meanwhile, had already seen enough. He didn’t like what he’d heard during the teams’ previous two games and didn’t appreciate the conference’s response when he reported his concerns.

Moments after Turgeon told Howard not to speak to him, a shouting match broke out. A tense situation quickly escalated, tempers flared and both teams gathered near midcourt, with officials rushing in to hold back each side.

The 6-foot-9 Howard had to be restrained, drew two technical fouls and was ejected with 10:44 left to play. Minus their coach, No. 4 Michigan pulled away for a testy 79-66 victory.

After the game, Howard apologized for his actions – and also placed blame on the other bench.

“That’s not how you handle things under adverse conditions,” he said before explaining his version of what happened.

“He said, ‘Juwan, I’m not going to let you talk to me. Don’t talk to me ever again,’ Then he charged at me. I don’t know how you were raised but the way I was raised is when someone charges you, you defend yourself.”

Turgeon was called for a technical foul but not ejected.

“This has been going on for three games,” he said. “I ‘ve been doing this for 34 years and I’ve called the conference office, I’ve called the commissioner and I said ‘I won’t take it the third game.’ So I stood up for myself and my team. All I said is, ‘Don’t talk to me, don’t talk to me.'”

Big 12

Cade Cunningham scored 25 points, Avery Anderson III added 20 and No. 12 Oklahoma State was nearly perfect from the foul line down the stretch in beating second-ranked Baylor 83-74 in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.

Rondel Walker also had 11 points for the No. 5 seed Cowboys (20-7), who will play No. 13 Texas for the title Saturday night.

Big Ten

Seth Towns scored six of his season-high 12 points in overtime, helping No. 9 Ohio State beat No. 21 Purdue 87-78 in the quarterfinals.

• Ayo Dosunmu scored 23 points and No. 3 Illinois easily beat Rutgers 90-68 in the quarterfinals.

SEC

Santiago Vescovi scored 14 points to lead five Volunteers in double figures, and Tennessee beat Florida 78-66 to advance to the semifinals for a third straight tournament.

• Jaden Shackelford had 13 points, Jahvon Quinerly added 14 off the bench and top-seeded Alabama blew out No. 9 seed Mississippi State 85-48 in a quarterfinal.

MAC

Jason Preston scored 27 points and Ben Vander Plas added 26 as Ohio stunned top-seeded Toledo 87-80 in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

AAC

Jeremiah Davenport scored 19 points with five 3-pointers and seven rebounds, and Cincinnati held off SMU for a 74-71 win in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

• DeJon Jarreau had his first career triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, helping No. 7 Houston to a 77-52 victory over Tulane in the quarterfinals.

Big East

Jamorko Pickett scored 19 points, Chudier Bile made big plays on both ends down the stretch and Georgetown reached its first Big East championship game in 11 years with a 66-58 victory over Seton Hall.

Dante Harris added 15 points for the eighth-seeded Hoyas (12-12), who are making a surprising March run with three straight wins at Madison Square Garden – where coach Patrick Ewing’s retired No. 33 New York Knicks jersey hangs in the rafters.