UCLA star guard missed game vs. Cal due to COVID protocols

Johnny Juzang, the leader of UCLA’s 2020 Final Four squad, missed Thursday’s game against Cal due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. A school spokesperson confirmed the news about an hour before tipoff.

Juzang leads the No. 7 Bruins with 18.1 points per game and 4.0 rebounds as well. The junior guard said he didn’t have COVID-19 when the virus plagued UCLA nearly a month from mid-December to early this month. That made him one of three scholarship players who reportedly were not affected by COVID-19 at the time.

UCLA had to cancel five games in the span thanks to the NCAA’s healthy and safety protocols. Over 10 members of the Bruins program came down with symptoms or positive tests, leading to the team shutting down their facilities and postponement/cancellation of said games.

Due to this, UCLA athletics announced fans would not be allowed to attend games until at least Jan. 21. UCLA released this message on Twitter on Friday, announcing it is changing its policy on spectators for games.

“Starting tonight [Jan. 21], all fans are once again welcome to attend indoor competitions on campus,” UCLA’s Twitter wrote.

The Bruins are happy and excited to welcome their fans back, there are a few rules that the team wants to make clear before the crowds start back up. 

“While we’re excited to welcome fans back, all spectators must continue to wear a face mask when not actively eating or drinking.” the statement read. “Failure to comply with wearing a face mask may result in future competitions without fans.” 

The game agains Arizona was the first men’s basketball game that saw Pauley Pavilion back with fans after the statement.

This news on Juzang came several hours after Jaylen Clark was ruled out due to a concussion. He did not take the court against No. 3 Arizona on Tuesday. Juzang scored 15 points in their 75-59 win over the Wildcats that night.

There has been no determination on the status of Juzang or Clark for Saturday’s conference matchup against Stanford.  New Pac-12 policies that went into effect at the start of the month state that Juzang will need to isolate for five days should he test positive, which it is unclear if he has or not yet. If a positive test comes back, he will be forced to sit out for the second game in a row.

Aside from Juzang and Clark, UCLA’s team is at full strength tonight.

UCLA is currently battling Cal live on the Pac-12 Network. They were leading 43-29 at the break, but you can watch the second half live right now.