Friday game at Villanova canceled

UConn’s Friday game at Villanova has officially been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 issues within the Huskies’ program, the Big East announced Tuesday afternoon.

The cancellation marks UConn’s fourth straight game called off because of the recent surge in COVID cases. While UConn’s Dec. 29 game against Marquette was canceled because of positive cases within the Marquette program, the last three cancellations were from the Huskies’ own issues with the virus.

Per Big East policy, the conference will attempt to reschedule Friday’s game — as it does with all canceled games because of COVID. However, with UConn (6-3) now needing to reschedule three league games between now and March, the window for rescheduling already looks slim.

UConn’s next scheduled game is this Sunday, Jan. 9, against Creighton at Gampel Pavilion.

On Monday’s UConn

Women’s Basketball Coaches Show, Geno Auriemma didn’t specify how many players are out with COVID. The Hall of Fame coach said players began testing positive on Dec. 26, the day they reported back to campus after the holiday break, while one player didn’t make the trip back to Storrs because of testing positive before traveling.

With four players (Paige Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin, Azzi Fudd and Nika Muhl) out, UConn has eight healthy players. Teams need seven scholarship players available to field a team, so UConn likely has at least two players with positive test results.

UConn’s last game was on Dec. 19, when it lost to then-No. 6 Louisville 69-64. The Huskies remain ranked No. 11 nationally in the latest AP Top 25 Poll.