Maryland suspends point guard Howard for Duke game
Maryland has suspended point guard Pe'Shon Howard for Saturday's game against Duke and coach Mark Turgeon indicated the suspension might last longer.
Turgeon said Howard is "not making very smart decisions. You've got team rules you've got to follow. We'll sit him out this game."
Howard was unavailable to comment and Turgeon did not specify why Howard had been suspended.
"He'll miss a game for this, at least one," Turgeon told the Baltimore Sun. "When you're older and you mess up, you might get fired. He'll miss one game at this point, maybe two, maybe three. But I want him to learn from his decisions."
This has been a tumultuous season for the junior Howard. Turgeon, earlier in the year, accused Howard of "pouting" when thing weren't going his way. He also missed a game due to illness on Jan. 30.
Freshman Seth Allen and sophomore Nick Faust will see the majority of playing time against No.2 Duke in Howard's absence. And at least one of Howard's teammates doesn't see the suspension as much of a distraction.
"We played without Pe'Shon before against Florida State, which probably helps us," Maryland guard Logan Aronhalt said Friday. "We're so deep in the rotation that certain guys are going to have to step up. We depend on the young guys - Seth - to come in and run the show for us. We should be fine."
Howard is averaging 3.3 points per game to go along with 4.2 assists per game, but it might be on the defensive end where he will be missed most.
Turgeon lauded Howard's defense and said the "the last two games he has played well."
