Frank Martin sorry for outburst

— -- South Carolina coach Frank Martin regrets the sideline actions that earned him a one-game suspension and told ESPN.com that he intends to work on his issues.

"I screwed up," Martin said Friday, a day after the school suspended him for Saturday's regular-season finale at Mississippi State. "I'm not perfect. I've got issues and I've got to work through them."

"I met with my athletic director and fully support his decision," Martin added of Ray Tanner, who issued the suspension.

Martin was caught on national television yelling profanities at freshman point guard Duane Notice midway through the second half of South Carolina's 72-46 home loss Tuesday to top-ranked  Florida.

"I embarrassed my family, my kids, my current and past players and my bosses," Martin said. "My actions are not acceptable. I work at my problems every day. I've got to get better. I'm still not where I need to be."

Martin is a fiery, intense coach on the floor. He was hired before the 2012-13 season by former athletic director Eric Hyman, who left to take a similar position at Texas A&M. Tanner, formerly South Carolina's baseball coach, took over as AD in July 2012.

"The one-game suspension is a result of inappropriate verbal communication as it relates to the well-being of our student-athletes," Tanner said in a statement released Thursday.

Martin took Kansas State to the NCAA tournament in four of his five seasons as coach of the Wildcats. He told ESPN.com that he stopped using profanities in his final season in Manhattan after coming home from a game and hearing his young son, Christian, telling him he was in trouble for using a bad word.

"I stopped, but then I got here and it was a new environment," Martin said. "It's not an excuse. I think my greatest asset is my passion -- and that passion also gets me in trouble.

"I've got to learn how to manage it. I've stopped before, and I'm going to stop again. I don't want my child to be exposed to it, so I can't expect other people's children to be exposed to it."

Martin will not accompany the team to Starkville. Associate head coach Matt Figger will serve as the acting coach against Mississippi State. South Carolina is 11-19 this season, 4-13 in the SEC.

"For the last 30 years, I've gotten on and off the bus with the players and been there to fight with my guys," Martin said. "To see them have to play and me not be there is real selfish. I created the problem. I'm not the victim here."