ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a hallway in the guts of Crisler Center, an anxious Michigan athletics employee walked Phil Martelli to the news conference. More than once, she offered to help: Do you need me? Can I do anything?

Martelli, his shoulders relaxed and his demeanor confident, assured her that he was OK. And with that, he strode purposefully into the room and toward the podium.

“I know what I’m doing. I’ve done this before,” he said Tuesday.

The 67-year-old Martelli, having spent nearly four decades in big-time college basketball, will fill in for Michigan head coach Juwan Howard for the rest of the regular season.

Howard was suspended five games and fined $40,000 by the Big Ten Conference after hitting a Wisconsin assistant coach in the head during the handshake line after a loss Sunday.