Williams Apologizes; ACC Suspends Referee

The Atlantic Coast Conference has accepted an apology by Maryland Coach Gary Williams for his comments after the Terrapins’ game against Wake Forest on Wednesday night.

Commissioner John D. Swofford also said Friday the ACC has suspended referee Doug Shows for one game for his “mishandling of a game management situation” during the second half of the game, which was played at Wake Forest.

Shows will be suspended from his next conference game assignment.

Shows called two technical fouls against Maryland in the Terrapins’ 81-72 loss, one on Williams midway through the second half and the other on senior guard Steve Blake with 15 seconds to play.

Blake declined to talk about the technical after the game, but Williams told reporters about an exchange he had with a referee without directly naming Shows.

“We had a referee tell us he’d see us next week in a threatening manner,” Williams said. “I’m a little tired of the rule the ACC has about [not] commenting on officiating and this is the first time I’ve commented.”

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