UA’s game vs. Washington off amid Huskies’ COVID issues

Arizona’s Pac-12 opener against Washington scheduled for Thursday was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols within the Huskies’ program, Washington confirmed in a statement on Wednesday night.

Washington said the Pac-12 would work with the schools to find a mutually agreeable date for rescheduling the game. Later Wednesday evening, Arizona said that tickets for Thursday’s game will be honored on the rescheduled date.

The 11th-ranked Wildcats are next scheduled to play at Oregon State on Sunday, then return home Wednesday for a nonconference game vs. Wyoming.

Last season, the Wildcats did not have any known COVID issues affecting a game. However, seven of their games were either postponed or canceled because of their opponents’ COVID-19 protocols.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd has said the UA men’s basketball team is “100%” vaccinated but said he was aware COVID concerns were affecting attendance at McKale Center.

Washington appeared to have been proceeding earlier in the week as if the game would be played. The school held a media Zoom press conference for Tuesday afternoon to preview the game; however, Washington guard Terrell Brown did not appear as scheduled for unspecified reasons.

Washington’s COVID-19 issues were the first this season to affect the UA men’s basketball season, though UA football and UA women’s basketball teams have already been affected by their opponents’ protocols. Last week, UC Riverside canceled Friday’s scheduled game against the UA women’s team in California because of COVID-19 issues in their program.