Skip to main content

LSU Basketball Matchup With Missouri Postponed Due to COVID-19 Protocols

Tigers to take on Ole Miss on the road in last minute rescheduling
  • Author:
  • Updated:

LSU will have to wait for its first top-25 matchup of the season but the program is still set to play on Saturday. The Tigers won't be traveling St. Louis for its scheduled matchup with No. 13 Missouri due to COVID-19 protocols within the Missouri program.

Instead, the Tigers will travel to Oxford to take on Ole Miss at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9. The game was originally scheduled for Feb. 17 but because Ole Miss' scheduled game with South Carolina has also been postponed, the two teams will push forward with a last minute reschedule.

No makeup date has been set for the LSU-Missouri matchup but the LSU-Ole Miss rescheduled game is expected to be carried on SEC Network. This will now be a totally different experience as the Tigers will have to prepare for an opponent with just over 24 hours notice. 

That means figuring out rotations, scouting, setting up defensive matchups and everything in between in just over a day. For a detail oriented team like LSU, that's a lot to process in a short amount of time. 

Will Wade has talked about in the past being able to adjust on the fly this season and that the team that adjusts the best will have the advantage. The Tigers have already undergone a substantial quarantine period during the season that forced them to postpone or cancel three non-conference games as a result. 

"It'll probably be survival of the fittest, some of it's gonna be luck," Wade said. "When the COVID and the contact tracing hits your team, can you survive? I do think whoever can get in rhythm and have chemistry with practice that team will certainly have an advantage."

Ole Miss (6-3, 1-1) enters Saturday's contest as one of the middling offenses in the SEC this season, headlined by senior Devontae Shuler's 13.8 points per game. The Tigers recently learned that senior guard Charles Manning will be entering the NCAA transfer portal and missing the rest of the 2020 season. 

"I think we've been able to plug and get some guys some experience which will hopefully pay dividends as we gotta shuffle the lineup and guys in and out all year."

More details will be updated as provided.