Michigan basketball's Tuesday game canceled due to COVID-19 outbreak
COVID-19 continues to impact the college basketball season. This time, Michigan has to cancel a game because of protocols.
The Wolverines announced their Tuesday game against Purdue Fort Wayne has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Mastodons program. It’s part of a rash of COVID-related cancellations across the sport.
Michigan is 7-4 overall this season and 1-1 in Big Ten action. The Wolverines recently beat Southern Utah 87-50 at Crisler Arena and are gearing up to dive into conference play in the coming weeks.
College basketball has been dealing with COVID-19 cancellations for the last couple weeks. According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, about 34 teams were with COVID-19 issues and have had games canceled or postponed as a result as of Tuesday morning.
Michigan now enters a holiday break before a Dec. 30 matchup with UCF. After that, Big Ten play gets going in full swing with a Jan. 4 game against Rutgers.
Wisconsin-Morgan State, Louisville-Kentucky canceled due to COVID-19 issues
The Wisconsin Badgers are looking for a new opponent on Thursday. Wisconsin was originally set to take on Morgan State, but Morgan State is unable to play because of COVID-19 issues. The men’s basketball team isn’t the only one that is impacted by this cancelation. Wisconsin and Morgan State were scheduled for a doubleheader, with the women’s teams also facing off earlier in the day on Thursday.
“The Wisconsin men’s basketball team is seeking a new opponent for Thursday at the Kohl Center after being notified that Morgan State is unable to travel to Madison due to COVID-19 complications within its program,” Wisconsin said in a release.
“The Badgers and Bears were scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. (CT) on Thursday, Dec. 23 as part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader at the Kohl Center. The women’s game vs. Eastern Illinois is still scheduled for Noon and the men’s team is now actively seeking a new opponent for the evening time slot.”
The news came the same day Louisville and Kentucky’s rivalry game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
“The Kentucky men’s basketball team’s game vs. Louisville scheduled for Wednesday in Rupp Arena has been postponed due to positive COVID-19 results within the UofL program,” Kentucky said in a release.
“UK Athletics is working to find a replacement game for either Wednesday or Thursday in Rupp Arena. Officials from Kentucky and Louisville will monitor opportunities in which the teams can reschedule the annual rivalry game.”
Louisville has paused all activities, resulting in the postponement of Wednesday’s game against Kentucky.
On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.