Did Frank Howard Try to Trip Zion Williamson During Duke-Syracuse?
Syracuse guard Frank Howard appeared to try to intentionally trip Duke forward Zion Williamson during the two team's ACC tournament quarterfinal matchup on Thursday.
WIth just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Williamson made a shot and began to head back down the court. As he began to turn, Howard stuck out his right foot in what ESPN's Jay Williams said looked to be an attempt to trip Duke's young star.
Williams criticized Howard during ESPN's halftime show.
"There is no place in the game for stuff like this,'' Williams said. "I said the same thing when the Grayson Allen stuff happened a couple years ago. The same thing just happened there with Frank Howard. There’s no place in the game for that. It’s uncalled for. That’s a play where I feel like players need to be ejected."
Howard denied that he was trying to trip Williamson after the game.
"If you're saying I'm trying to trip him, I don't get it," Howard told reporters. "He's a hell of an athlete. I have a lot of respect for him. I'm not going to wait for four years to get to this stage and start tripping people."
Thursday night marked Williamson's first game back in action since suffering a knee sprain against North Carolina on Feb. 20.
Duke dropped three of six games during Williamson's absence.
