Source: Georgia assistant coach Wade Mason suspended following halftime incident at LSU
Georgia has suspended men's basketball assistant coach Wade Mason with pay while the athletics department investigates an alleged incident that took place at halftime of the team's loss Wednesday at LSU, a source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.
Mason, a first-year assistant under coach Tom Crean, was not on the bench for the Saturday's game, an 85-68 loss to Ole Miss at Stegeman Coliseum.
"Obviously, it's an unfortunate situation that we're dealing with," Crean said after Saturday's loss. "But it was handled correctly and we try to focus on basketball and unfortunately today we just didn't play very well."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that an altercation took place at halftime of the 84-65 loss to the Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, involving Mason and director of player personnel Brian Fish.
The university released a statement early Saturday disputing reports that it was attempting to fire Crean for cause because he failed to report the incident to the athletics department's human resources office.
"There have been various media reports related to UGA Athletics personnel ranging from completely inaccurate to incomplete and premature," the school said. "The incident in question was reported properly as required by university policies and is under review. We will comment if and when appropriate."
The Bulldogs are in last place in the SEC with a 6-21 record, including 1-13 in conference play.
Crean is 47-70 in four seasons at Georgia.
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