Maryland guard Pe'Shon Howard is "temporarily suspended" and will not be on the bench Saturday when the Terrapins play host to Duke.
Coach Mark Turgeon said Howard's status would be re-evaluated after the weekend.
"He just has to make better decisions as he moves forward," Turgeon said Friday. "He'll miss a game for this, at least one, and 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."
Asked if Howard's suspension was related to an accumulation of transgressions, Turgeon said, "That's not fair to say."
Maryland will presumably will go with a nine-man rotation without Howard. It also winnows the Terps' options at point guard, where Nick Faust and Seth Allen will split most of the time.
"Seth a lot more at the point," Turgeon said. "He's been practicing a lot more at the point in the last couple weeks and played more there in the games. Seth and Nick at the point for the majority of the night. It's just more playing time for the five guards."
Howard has played in all but one game this season, starting 14 of the first 15 before settling into a reserve role. He's averaging 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds, and has 22 assists and 19 turnovers in 10 conference games.
The junior is coming off a solid game against Virginia, when he had five points and played solid defense in 17 minutes.
"He defended well against Virginia," Turgeon said. "He made a 3 against Virginia. I think not starting and coming off the bench in a more limited role took pressure off Pe'Shon and I think he liked it."
For at least Saturday and perhaps even longer, though, Howard won't have an on-court role for the Terps (17-7, 5-6 ACC).
"He's not making very smart decisions," Turgeon said. "We have team rules we have to follow. We'll sit him out this game and re-evaluate it on Sunday."
--- Patrick Stevens
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