Hokies' Allen apologizes for incident with official

A day after ACC commissioner John Swofford suspended him for two games, Virginia Tech forward Jeff Allen apologized Monday for making "inappropriate contact" with official Zelton Steed during the Hokies' 81-70 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday.

In a statement, Allen, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound freshman, apologized to Steed, the conference, his teammates, coaches and fans for bumping the official after he was called for his fifth foul with 4:32 left.

"I made a terrible mistake and take full responsibility. In the heat of the moment, I let my emotions get the best of me," Allen said. "I understand my inappropriate behavior has consequences. This isolated incident is not reflective of who I am. I can assure you it will never happen again."

Coach Seth Greenberg also apologized to Steed. Greenberg said he respected Swofford's decision and asked people not to stereotype Allen for one "terrible mistake."

"There are certain acts in sports that are inappropriate and cannot be tolerated," Greenberg said.

"Approaching an official is one of them."

Greenberg declined to answer questions about the incident on Monday's ACC conference call. Tech officials said Allen would have no further comment.

Allen, who has started all 18 games, leads the team in rebounding (8.1 per game) and is second in scoring (12.8).

Virginia Tech plays host to Duke on Thursday and plays at Boston College on Saturday.

Greenberg said he was evaluating who would replace Allen in the lineup. Forward Lewis Witcher is one option. Or the Hokies could go small, which is probably not a bad idea against a Duke team that starts three guards.

"We've basically looked at match-ups and decided what we're going to do with our starting lineup," he said. "It'll be no different Thursday."

Up-and-down season continues for Maryland

So much for talk of North Carolina rolling through the league unbeaten. Maryland took care of that Saturday with its upset of the then-No. 1 Tar Heels. North Carolina tumbled to No. 5 after the loss.

Now the question for the Terps, who have won six of seven since losing to American a month ago, is how to handle prosperity.

"Our players have to do a good job of keeping things in perspective," coach Gary Williams said. "With Duke coming up, that should be pretty easy to do."

Williams should have no problem with that, even if he has been fielding a lot of congratulatory calls after knocking off a No. 1 team for the seventh time in his career.

"I didn't get quite that number of calls after the AU game," he said.

Georgia Tech's Causey erupted against Hokies

Who's Matt Causey and what is he doing scoring 30 points in an ACC game?

The former walk-on at Georgia Tech, who had been averaging 5.1 points, scored 30 against the Hokies in the Yellow Jackets' win Saturday.

"We didn't expect Causey to get 30 points," Greenberg said. "The guy's been in college about 15 years and he came up with a huge game."

Five years, actually. Causey, 23, began his career at Georgetown, then transferred to Division II North Georgia. The 6-0 senior sat out last season and earned a scholarship before this season.

"I can't say that I saw him dropping 30 on anyone," coach Paul Hewitt said. "Let's put it this way: He's a dangerous shooter and he's a fearless player."

Just ask the folks at North Georgia. Causey's previous high at Tech was 11, but he scored 43 points and had 12 assists against Southern Wesleyan for North Georgia in 2004-05.