Chris McIntosh: 'No space for conduct like that in any competition'

MADISON, WIS. -- A key Big Ten victory, along with a celebration of one of UW's legends, became secondary storylines immediately after Wisconsin's 77-63 victory over Michigan on Sunday inside the Kohl Center, all due to postgame physical altercations.

The final buzzer sounded with UW notching its 21st win of the season, and the teams went to each other's lines and shook hands in traditional fashion. Moments later, however, the programs would need to be separated. CBS caught all of the melee, as seen below:

The incident intensified to the point of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard striking Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft after a heated exchange with UW head coach Greg Gard. The video from CBS's national feed also shows some players and staff engaging in shoving at the very least, with a few appearing to go beyond that.

Michigan players Hunter Dickinson and DeVante' Jones, along with Howard, first took to the postgame podium -- with the Wolverines' student athletes being asked questions first. Both offered a "no comment" when asked what occurred right after their loss.

In an immediate follow-up question regarding what happened during the conference clash that -- as a reporter phrased -- "went beyond common basketball," Dickinson stated. "I think some people were upset with the way they handled the ending of the game, and so that frustration was released."

Wisconsin called a timeout with 15 seconds remaining in the contest. Howard confirmed to reporters that he became upset when the game was drawn out.

"I didn't like the timeout being called, and I'll be totally honest with you, I thought it was not necessary at that moment, especially being a large lead," Howard said. "And then for the time out to be called with three seconds, four seconds to go, I thought that was, what I felt, wasn't fair to our guys, and so that's what happened."

It appeared late in the second half that Michigan deployed a press-style defense against Wisconsin, which at the time showed five reserves on the court. Howard countered that notion.

"It wasn't press," Howard said. "We were just five pressure defense, man-to-man. That's what five is for us."

Howard discussed what spiraled the situation further from disagreement to physically hitting an assistant coach. He "addressed" with Gard that he "will remember that, because of that timeout," according to the leader of Michigan's men's basketball program.

"For someone to touch me, and I think that was very uncalled for, for him to touch me as we were verbalizing and communicating with one another," Howard said. "That's what ended up happening, and that's what escalated it."

Howard also believed the contact exceeded the the normal limits of the handshakes seen normally during games. Video replays showed Gard touching Howard on the right arm near the elbow, with the Wisconsin head coach later saying he wanted to explain his logic for the timeout.

"Oh, yeah, it was more than that," Howard said. "Touching me unnecessary wasn't cause for that when we're talking. And that at that point, I thought that was time to protect myself."

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh sat alongside Gard after Michigan's availability. The leader of the UW athletic department spoke first with stern condemnation of what took place immediately following the win.

"I would just start by saying there's no room, there's no space for conduct like that in any competition, much less Big Ten competition," McIntosh said. "The Big Ten takes pride in sportsmanship. The Big Ten takes pride in acting with class, and that didn't happen today. It's unfortunate what transpired.

"I've been in contact with the league. I've spoken to the commissioner personally. I expect the league is going to act swiftly and aggressively. We've got staff that have been affected and injured, hit in the face. It's difficult for me to compose myself in the defense of our staff and our team who did not instigate this event. And it's clearly captured on the television feed today, and I'm not sure what will take long in addressing this."

Gard's opening comments lamented the postgame activities potentially overshadowing the retirement of Michael Finley's No. 24 jersey and a victory that saw Wisconsin (20-5 overall, 12-4 Big Ten) outscore Michigan 46-32 in the second half. The head coach also walked through, unprompted, his perspective of the last 15 seconds of regulation.

"So we only have four seconds to get the ball across half court, OK?" Gard said. "The official comes over to me and says, 'Greg, if you take the time out, you'll get a full 10 seconds.' There was 15 seconds on the game clock left, OK? I had all the reserves in. I was not going to put them in a position, when the ball had already got knocked out of bounds, to have to break a press in four seconds when they're coming cold off the bench.

"So I took a timeout, which I'm allowed to do obviously, and brought them over and try to get them organized. They haven't all been on the floor in pressure situations before, and I want to give them the best chance to have success coming up the floor, and tell him we're not going to shoot the ball. All we're doing is getting the ball, break the pressure, come up, and we'll dribble out the clock. So we got the full 10 seconds to break that press instead of four seconds. So we're on the spot, we got organized, and that is the situation that he apparently was upset with."

Gard also gave his recollection of the events in the line. He noted that Howard did not proceed through immediately after the contest, walking through after some of his players.

"They were all fine, and he came up to me and pulled his mask down, said, 'I'll remember that,' and he start pointed at me and tapped me in the chest," Gard said. "And I said, 'Hold on, let me explain to you why I took the timeout.' Maybe he doesn't know the rule that you get the 10 seconds reset. I wasn't gonna put my players in that type of situation to have to break a press in four seconds, come in stiff and cold off the bench. I wouldn't do that for a regular group.

"I can take a timeout. It gives my players the best chance to have success, so that's where it started that he said, 'I'll remember that, I'll remember that.' I said, 'Hey, let me tell you why I did what I did,' and he didn't want to be part of it and kept moving on."

McIntosh withheld comment on just who from Wisconsin was injured as they were "assessing the situation," according to the athletic director. A reporter asked Gard if he believes he was "overly aggressive," in the scribe's words, in making contact with Howard.

McIntosh interjected.

"Coach Gard hasn't had a chance to see the video footage," McIntosh said. "I have. I think the footage speaks for itself, and I think it speaks in Greg's favor."

McIntosh divulged a little information in his talk with Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren during the postgame availability.

"I can share with you, the commissioner understands the significance of what happened," McIntosh said. "The commissioner understands the standard with which the Big Ten is expected to operate in terms of sportsmanship and safety. I'm confident having spoken with him that this be handled appropriately, and I expect to hear from him soon.

The Big Ten Conference released a statement at 3:18 p.m. CT:

"The Big Ten Conference is aware of a physical altercation involving Michigan Head Coach Juwan Howard at the conclusion of the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball game. The conference is in contact with both member institutions and is currently assessing the incident. The conference will provide more information and will take swift and appropriate disciplinary action when it completes its review."

McIntosh stated he planned to speak with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, describing him as "a friend and a great colleague, and I would trust that he's got the same concerns that I do."

About an hour after the Big Ten statement, Michigan provided one of its own:

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