Johnson caught outside box

Officials said they told Stanford Coach Trent Johnson to back off minutes before his surprising ejection in the first half of the Cardinal’s overtime victory over Marquette at the Honda Center on Saturday.

“He was warned in the first half visibly with a ‘stop’ signal,” referee Curtis Shaw said, adding that Johnson was told: “Trent, that’s enough.”

The NCAA said that, according to Internet sources, Johnson was the first coach ejected from a tournament game since Bob Huggins, then of Cincinnati, in 2003.

The trouble started for Johnson with 3:36 remaining in the first half. Stanford forward Lawrence Hill was called for a foul and official David Hall added a technical on Johnson for coming out of the coach’s box to complain.

The game paused for a media timeout, at which point coaches usually have leeway to move around. But when Johnson walked toward officials, glaring, Shaw quickly called a second technical.

“A timeout doesn’t begin until we report it,” Shaw said. “We had never called a timeout. We had a foul, followed by a technical foul for being out of the box and as my partner came out to tell me what we had, [Johnson] then continued out so the timeout was never granted.”

In an emotional game, officials later called technicals on Stanford’s Robin Lopez and Marquette’s Lawrence Blackledge.

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Saturday wasn’t the first time Johnson has been thrown out of a gym.

Stanford assistant coach Doug Oliver, who took over for Johnson on Saturday, did the honors during a practice in the 1970s, when Oliver was a Boise State assistant and Johnson was a Broncos player.

“He remembers the incident vividly,” Oliver joked. “I guess it scarred him, I don’t know. He was mixing it up with one of the guys. I said that was enough, because it was screwing up my drill, and he wanted the last word, and I wouldn’t let him have it, so he made an exit, and we continued on with practice.”

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Stanford guard Mitch Johnson’s 16 assists were a school record and equaled the second most in NCAA tournament history. Mark Wade holds the record -- 18 for Nevada Las Vegas against Indiana in a 1987 national semifinal.

Where did Saturday’s game rank in Johnson’s career?

“I think I’d have to put it No. 1, just because of the magnitude of the game,” he said. “I won a couple of state championships, but that’s not anything compared to the NCAA tournament. . . . I put it as probably the most intense game, considering the magnitude.”

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Marquette’s three starting guards accounted for 53 of the team’s points. The two forwards, Lazar Hayward and Ousmane Barro, totaled 11.

Yet, Marquette out-rebounded taller Stanford, 45-38.

Marquette guard Dominic James praised his teammates. “Those guys fought, being beat up, and people were doubting them throughout the entire season . . . even though [Stanford] got the final say with the last basket,” James said.

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david.wharton@latimes.com

chris.dufresne@latimes.com