Fran McCaffery issues apology

— -- Iowa coach Fran McCaffery "crossed a line of acceptable behavior" during an outburst that led to his ejection from the No. 22 Hawkeyes' 75-71 road loss on Sunday to fourth-ranked Wisconsin, athletic director Gary Barta said Monday.

"I've met with Coach McCaffery regarding last night's ejection from the game in Madison. He knows he crossed a line of acceptable behavior and accepts responsibility for his actions," Barta said in a statement issued by the school.

"All staff at the University of Iowa fully support the Big Ten Conference's sportsmanship policy's fundamental elements, including civility and respect toward opponents and game officials. Fran has my full support moving forward."

Ben Brust made four straight free throws for the Badgers after McCaffery was hit with back-to-back technical fouls with about 12 minutes to play, giving Wisconsin a 43-41 lead.   

McCaffery also issued an apology Monday for putting Iowa's program "in a negative light."

The Hawkeyes coach boiled over after a foul was called on Iowa center  Gabriel Olaseni that sent Wisconsin's  Nigel Hayes to the line. The back-to-back technicals led to McCaffery's ejection, and he continued to confront the officials as his assistants tried to restrain him.

"There were a couple of calls there that I had taken exception to and felt like 'I gotta change this thing a little bit,'" McCaffery told ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Monday morning. "I got the T. The thing that I regret was getting the second T. I didn't want to get the second T. It was not my intention and it impacted the game in a way that wasn't good for our team.

"Anytime a coach does something like that, you feel horrible about it because you don't ever want to do anything other than to help your team win a game. I felt like we needed a shift -- we needed something to change -- and my intention was to do that but not get the second T. I feel terrible about that."

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.