Dug McDaniel restrains Juwan Howard as he comes out onto floor during Purdue game
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard has been known to have one of the hottest tempers in college basketball. And on Sunday afternoon against the Purdue Boilermakers, it flared up yet again.
Howard was upset after a questionable foul call on Michigan’s Tarris Reed. He came all the way out onto the floor to say something to officials but was immediately held back by Dug McDaniel.
McDaniel restrained Howard and pushed him all the way back to the Michigan bench.
It was a big-time call and a huge swing in momentum. When Reed fouled out, he finished with two points and seven rebounds.
The Wolverines have been having one of their worst years in program history this season and currently sit at 8-20 overall and 3-14 in the Big Ten Conference. Still, despite the down year, the Wolverines battled Purdue on Sunday, only losing 84-76 to the nation’s third-ranked team. Michigan was trailing 78-70 with 3:31 remaining, when he fouled out of the game and the incident above happened.
Purdue’s giant of a big man, Zach Edey, was once again dominant. He carried the Boilermakers with 35 points and 15 rebounds, without a doubt one of his best performances of the season. It was the fourth performance of his career with more than 30 points and double-digit rebounds.
Edey is very likely going to become the first player to win back-to-back National Player of the Year honors since Virginia’s Ralph Sampson did it in 1980. Purdue finished with three players in double figures (Zach Edey, Braden Smith, and Lance Jones). Many are fascinated to see how the Boilermakers will perform in the upcoming 2024 NCAA Tournament and there’s no doubt that the pressure will be on.
Dug McDaniel and others had excellent performances
Howard got great performances from several players on the Michigan roster. The Wolverines had five players in double figures (Terrance Williams II, Will Tschetter, Dug McDaniel, Nimari Burnett, and Tray Jackson). McDaniel led all Wolverines scorers with 19 points, while also chipping in six assists and three rebounds.
Juwan Howard took some time to speak with the media in the postgame press conference. Following the loss, he said via Anthony Broome of TheWolverine.com, “We’re going to keep competing or die trying….that’s what we do at Michigan.”
Michigan has three more games on the slate for the regular season: the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Feb. 29), Ohio State (Mar. 3), and the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Mar. 10). Purdue has three games remaining for their regular season slate: Michigan State (Mar. 2), No. 12 Illinois (Mar. 5), and Wisconsin (Mar. 10).