The teams battled on even terms until late in the first half, when Trent Johnson drew his technicals in quick succession after Stanford’s Lawrence Hill was called for a foul on Hayward.

The first technical was assessed by David Hall as the teams went to a timeout. Johnson received the second technical, and the ejection, from Curtis Shaw when he walked toward the officials with his hands on his hips.

Coaches often take the floor during timeouts, but Shaw said time had not been called when Johnson walked onto the floor.

“A timeout doesn’t begin until we report it,” Shaw said. “We had never called a timeout.

“During a timeout, coaches are allowed to stay in the vicinity of their bench,” Shaw said. “They are not allowed to walk out on the floor and continue to complain. He was warned in the first half visibly with a ’stop’ signal. ’Trent, that’s enough.’ “

Stanford assistant Doug Oliver, who later took over, put his hands to his head as Shaw tossed Johnson.

Johnson glared at the officials before walking past the Marquette bench and into a tunnel as Golden Eagles fans jeered.

“The bottom line was, the responsibility was on me, and I was out of line,” Trent Johnson said. “Just leave it at that if you would, please.”

Wesley Matthews hit all four free throws awarded for the technicals to give the Golden Eagles a 29-24 lead, and Marquette’s lead grew to 36-25 before Stanford reeled off the final five points of the half.

“We knew they weren’t going to go away,” Crean said. “We knew Stanford was going to continue to battle and, if anything, take up their intensity another notch.”

Johnson went to the dressing room. When his team got there at halftime, he told his players to stay calm — odd advice for a man who had just been ejected.

“He came in and went over the pointers and said we’ve shown mental toughness and character the whole year, and he just wanted us to show it,” Mitch Johnson said. “I think Marquette had us on the ropes a couple times, and we really showed a lot of character tonight.”

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