Wisconsin basketball team isn't focused on last year's fight with Michigan, but star Wolverine Hunter Dickinson calls Badgers 'scumbags'

MADISON – Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft isn’t interested in a rematch.

“That is so far behind us that it doesn’t come into my mind very often,” Krabbenhoft said Monday after practice at the Kohl Center. “No one is going to avoid the obvious, but we’re not focused on it. That’s not a conversation we have as a team at any point.

“We talked about it a lot in the days following – learning lessons and things like that…

“But that’s 11 months ago, right? Almost 12.”

Krabbenhoft was asked about the ugly incident between UW and Michigan after the Badgers’ 77-63 victory on Feb. 20 of last season.

More:Michigan basketball faces must-win in first trip to Wisconsin since Juwan Howard's slap

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The scuffle began in the handshake line after Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and UW coach Greg Gard exchanged a few words about the closing seconds of the game and soon players and coaches from both teams were pushing and shoving.

UW's Jahcobi Neath and Michigan’s Moussa Diabate and Terrance Wiliams II were seen throwing punches.

Krabbenhoft told Howard to calm down and Howard – separated by two Michigan players and a staffer – reached across and shoved his right hand into Krabbenhoft’s face.

Howard was suspended for the final five games of the regular season. Neath, Diabate and Williams were given one-game suspensions. Gard was fined $10,000.

“That’s all behind us,” Gard said Monday. “Hey, I get it. We’re all competitors. You’re not in this (business) if you’re not. … He is obviously a tremendous competitor, was as a player and obviously is as a coach.”

The two teams meet up for the first time in Madison since the incident on Tuesday night.

Greg Gard has respect for Michigan coach Juwan Howard

Gard then shared a story about Howard that most fans likely hadn’t heard, the story of Gard’s first meeting with Howard.

The meeting occurred at University of Michigan Hospital, several days after then-UW assistant Howard Moore, his wife and two children were in an auto crash on Memorial Day weekend in 2019.

Gard and Bo Ryan flew to Michigan to visit Moore and when they arrived, Howard was in the room. Gard noted he took time to visit Moore on the same day he was introduced as Michigan’s head coach.

“And we’ve talked about that,” Gard said. “He has shared his concerns about Howard and asked about Howard a lot. That showed me who Juwan is. That trumps anything else.”

Michigan's Hunter Dickinson calls Wisconsin Badgers 'scumbags'

Michigan center Hunter Dickinson, appearing last month on the "Roundall" podcast, made it clear he doesn't respect UW's program or players.

“Wisconsin, I mean they’re just … they’re just … they’re scumbags," he said. "It is what it is. I’m sorry, they’re just scumbags."

UW's Steven Crowl was asked Monday about the rivalry.

"Personally I don't have any social media so I don't hear any of that stuff," Crowl said. "It doesn't affect me. We're going out there to play like any other game.

"I'm sure the fans and you guys ... they might. I don't know. It is like any other game and we've got to stick to how we play and hopefully we can win."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michigan's Hunter Dickinson calls Wisconsin basketball team 'scumbags'