Antoine Mason could miss rest of regular season

AUBURN -- Antoine Mason could miss the remainder of the regular season as he mourns the loss of his father, former New York Knicks guard Anthony Mason, who passed away Saturday morning.

Auburn coach Bruce Pearl does not believe this is "any chance" Antoine Mason will be with the the Tigers when they travel to Missouri on Tuesday and his status for Saturday's regular season finale with Georgia, which is also senior day, is unclear as the family finalizes funeral arrangements for later in the week.

"I don't know that he will be back for senior day on Saturday," Pearl said. "I just think we will have to wait and see. Whatever they decide we will support."

Anthony Mason was a regular presence on the Plains during his son's short stint with the program, appearing at many games and practices.

"He would sit there after practice and he would spend as much time with Kareem (Canty) or Cinmeon (Bowers) or any of the other players as he did with Antoine," Pearl said. "Anthony didn't edit. He would tell you what he thought. For some of those guys that did not have a father that would be here watching the games and encouraging them and criticizing them, Anthony did that for a lot of those guys. That's just who he was. It was difficult."