Kentucky-unc men’s basketball matchup set in COVID-19 shuffle

No. 21 Kentucky will now face North Carolina on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas after each of their opponents had to drop out due to COVID-19 issues.

The teams announced the matchup Friday after fourth-ranked UCLA canceled its game against UNC. The Bruins have paused team-related activities, and the status of their future games is undetermined. They had previously called off a home game against Alabama State scheduled for earlier this week. The other game that was part of the Vegas event, a matchup between No. 15 Ohio State and No. 21 Kentucky, was canceled Thursday because of positive COVID-19 results within the Buckeyes program.

Second-ranked Duke announced Friday afternoon that it would play Elon on Saturday after having a second opponent cancel due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Blue Devils were originally slated to play Cleveland State before that program had to cancel and pause team activities. Duke then scheduled Loyola Maryland, only to say that game was off due to positives among the Greyhounds.

Duke ended up bringing in Elon, located about 40 miles west of Durham.

Syracuse also announced it is canceling its next two games due to COVID-19 protocols. The school will determine whether Saturday’s scheduled game against Lehigh and next Tuesday’s scheduled game against Cornell can be made up later.

— Wire reports