Michigan's Juwan Howard Suspended for Rest of Regular Season for Fight

The Big Ten Conference announced Monday that University of Michigan men's basketball head coach Juwan Howard has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season for his role in the skirmish following Sunday's 77-63 loss to Wisconsin.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports broke the news earlier Monday. Michigan has five regular-season games left before the Big Ten Tournament.

Howard was also fined $40,000.

Michigan forwards Terrance Williams II and Moussa Diabate were each suspended one game for their roles in the altercation, as was Wisconsin guard Jahcobi Neath.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard was not suspended, though he was fined $10,000. Badgers director of athletics Chris McIntosh said in a statement that the school would cover the fine, as he views it as a "'Wisconsin fine' and not a 'Greg Gard fine'":

Badgers assistant Joe Krabbenhoft was not disciplined.

Howard and Gard started yelling at each other in the handshake line before players and assistants came to separate them. It was then that Howard reached across and physically struck Krabbenhoft.

That escalated the tension and led to a scrum with players pushing each other.

The Big Ten released a statement in the aftermath indicating it was "aware of a physical altercation involving [Howard]" and was "in contact with both member institutions and is currently assessing the incident."

The Associated Press (via ESPN) noted Wisconsin called a timeout with 15 seconds left despite enjoying a healthy lead, which angered Howard.

"I didn't like the timeout being called, to be totally honest," Howard said in his postgame press conference. "I thought it was not necessary at the moment, especially being a large lead."

Howard apologized Monday for his "unacceptable" actions and words:

McIntosh said some members of his team's staff were "affected and injured."

McIntosh also said he contacted Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and added, "There's no room, no space for conduct like that in any competition, much less a Big Ten competition. The Big Ten takes pride in sportsmanship. The Big Ten takes pride in acting with class. That didn't happen today."

Gard discussed the incident in the aftermath and explained he called timeout to reset the 10-second half-court clock before he emptied his bench:

On the court, the Badgers improved to 21-5 overall and 12-4 in conference play with the win. All five Wisconsin starters scored in double figures, including Johnny Davis, who led the way with 25 points and six boards.

Hunter Dickinson's 21 points were not enough for the Wolverines, who are firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble heading into the season's stretch run after the latest loss dropped them to 14-11 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten.