Wisconsin coach Greg Gard: Confrontation with Juwan Howard is 'water under the bridge'

A heavily circulated photo on the internet Wednesday featured Wisconsin men's basketball coach Greg Gard and Michigan coach Juwan Howard, side by side, smiling. It was obviously a stark contrast to their meeting following UW’s win over Michigan last February.

Gard called the incident “water under the bridge,” noting the two saw each other during the summer and had a good visit Wednesday at Big Ten media days.

“I remember the first time I met Juwan was on the day of his (first) press conference at Michigan," Gard said. "He went to see Howard Moore, who was in the University of Michigan’s hospital within a week or two weeks of his car accident. I happened to fly in that day, too, with Coach (Bo) Ryan. That is the Juwan Howard I know. … We’ve all been in those situations. It’s water under the bridge.”

Howard was bothered after Gard called a timeout to organize his reserves vs. a Michigan pressure defense late in Wisconsin's 77-63 victory over Michigan last season and made his frustrations known in the handshake line. Gard put his hand on Howard to prevent him from walking past without a discussion, which soon escalated into a screaming match, and eventually, Howard smacking Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft in the head.

Howard was suspended for the remainder of the regular season (five games) and fined $40,000 for the incident, but came back to coach Michigan in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.

Howard said this was not the first time he has seen Gard since the altercation − they've crossed paths on the recruiting trail − and clarified where the relationship stood.

"There's always been a respect-level we had before last season," Howard said. "Unfortunately, with that, it was just a little step that took us a little step back. But it's nice to see that we're moving forward and hopefully everyone will join in and move forward with us."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Michigan's Juwan Howard, Wisconsin's Greg Gard put scuffle in past