Dukes postponed again

Duquesne is part of the latest group of college basketball postponements.

Florida postponed its next three men’s games while forward Keyontae Johnson continues to show “truly encouraging signs of progress,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said Thursday.

Johnson collapsed on the court in a game Saturday at Florida State and remains hospitalized at UF Health while undergoing further tests and evaluation. He is alert, moving, talking and even chatting with friends and teammates via FaceTime.

The Gators had been scheduled to play host Saturday to Florida Atlantic, Sunday to Florida A&M and Tuesday to James Madison. They will try to make up all three games later this season, but the priority will be to get through Southeastern Conference play.

Duquesne

Two Atlantic 10 Conference games, one men’s game and one women’s game, scheduled for Saturday were postponed. In men’s basketball, the Duquesne at Richmond game was postponed due to a positive COVID test within the Duquesne program. The details of the makeup contest will be announced at a later date. The La Salle at Saint Joseph’s women’s game also was postponed due to COVID issues with a previous Saint Joseph’s opponent

Virginia

The 17th-ranked Cavaliers men will not play Saturday in a game against No. 7 Villanova while adding topranked Gonzaga Dec. 26 as the Cavaliers continue to manage an outbreak related to the coronavirus pandemic. The matchup between Virginia and Villanova — programs that have won three of the past four national championships — was scheduled for prime time at Madison Square Garden in New York, but the Cavaliers are set only to resume practicing Saturday after pausing because of at least one positive test and subsequent contact tracing, The game will not be rescheduled, according to an announcement from the athletic department.

Gonzaga

The Bulldogs finally got back on the court to practice this week after a two-week break due to COVID-19 cases within the program. It looked like the first practice of the year to the Gonzaga head coach.

“We were able to get together last night. It looked like our first practice in the fall, balls going everywhere and people leaning over and grabbing their shorts because they were gassed,” Few said Thursday.

The Bulldogs haven’t played since Dec. 2, when they beat West Virginia in Indianapolis. Two days later, Gonzaga’s showdown with No. 2 Baylor was abruptly canceled just a couple of hours before tip-off after one player and one staff member in the Bulldogs program tested positive for COVID-19.

Elsewhere

The matchups Saturday for the CBS Sports Classic in Cleveland featuring North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA and Ohio State were changed. No. 22 North Carolina now will face Kentucky at 2 p.m., with No. 20 Ohio State changed to face UCLA at 4:15. Organizers said the change was to “more closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences.” Originally, Kentucky was playing UCLA and North Carolina against Ohio State.