Tensions from Sunday’s game between Wisconsin and Michigan boiled over in the closing moments with a post-game brawl becoming the main storyline from a Badgers win.

Late in the game, Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard called a timeout with the final outcome already decided. It was a decision that frustrated Michigan head coach Juwan Howard. In the ensuing escalation of the handshake line, Howard took a swing and made contact with a Wisconsin assistant.

During his postgame press conference, Gard addressed the timeout that upset Howard. According to Gard, he was trying to get his reserves time to settle themselves and reset the 10-second clock.

“I had all the reserves in. I was not going to put them in a position to try and break a press in 4 seconds coming cold off the bench,” explained Gard. “So we got the full 10 seconds to break that press instead of 4 seconds.

“That is the situation that he, apparently, was upset with.”

Gard then delivered his side of the scuffle in the handshake line. According to Gard, it was Howard who escalated the incident by pulling down his mask to deliver a comment while tapping on Gard’s chest and pointing a finger in Gard’s face.

“He came up to me and pulled his mask down and said ‘I’ll remember that’ and started pointing at me and tapping me in the chest,” said Gard.

“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…that’s where it started, that he said ‘I’ll remember that.'”