Texas, Kentucky clash canceled due to COVID-19 issues
Texas' weekend trip to Lexington, Kentucky is now off.
Kentucky announced Friday that all men's basketball activities will be paused for 48 hours. The SEC school announced it is dealing with “a combination of positive testing, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the program” for COVID-19.
Thus, Saturday' s game between No .5 Texas and Kentucky has been canceled and will not be rescheduled. The game was part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
“The decision is consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 and UK Athletics C OVID -19 management requirements,” Kentucky officials said in a statement.
The Longhorns were not likely to be at full strength as it was. Coach Shaka Smart announced Monday he had tested positive and stepped away from the program and into self-isolation.
Then three players were held out of Tuesday's home loss to Oklahoma. Starters Courtney Ramey and Jericho Sims were unlikely to travel to Lexington, but reserve Brock Cunningham had been cleared to start practicing again.
Now, UT's next scheduled game is 6 p.m. Tuesday at home against No. 2 Baylor. No fans are expected to be allowed into the Erwin Center because of COVID-19 restrictions.
THURSDAY'S GAMES MEN
NO. 1 GONZAGA 90, SAN DIEGO 62:
Drew Timme scored 21 points and Corey Kispert had 19 for No. 1 Gonzaga, which routed San Diego for its 20th straight victory dating to last season. Jalen Suggs added 17 for Gonzaga (16-0, 7-0 West Coast), which beat San Diego for the 13th straight time.
NO. 6 HOUSTON 83, TULANE 60:
Cameron Tyson scored a career-high 31 points, hitting a career-best nine 3-pointers, and No. 6 Houston routed Tulane. Tramon Mark added 16 points and Justin Gorham had 15 rebounds to help Houston (14-1, 9-1 American Athletic Conference) win its seventh straight despite the absence of leading scorer Quintin Grimes, who sprained his ankle in practice this week.
NO. 15 KANSAS 59, TCU 51: Kansas and TCU waged such an epic offensive struggle Thursday night that the best shooter might have been Jayhawks center David McCormack, who swished his first 3-point try of the season during their decisive second-half run.