UCLA Men’s Basketball’s Game vs. UNC Canceled, Team Shuts Down Due to COVID-19
The Bruins have officially paused all team activities and will be shutting down for the time being.
UCLA men’s basketball had its upcoming game versus North Carolina canceled early Friday morning, the day before it was scheduled to tip off, due to further COVID-19 protocols. The game slated to make up the other half of the double-header at the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas on Saturday was Ohio State versus Kentucky, but that too was canceled due to COVID-19 issues on the Ohio State side.
North Carolina and Kentucky will instead play each other with the Bruins and Buckeyes down for the count. UCLA’s game will not be rescheduled.
According to a statement released by the school, all team-related activities have been put on pause and the status of future games is to be determined.
This marks two games in a row called off for UCLA, which had its Wednesday night game against Alabama State halted just an hour before the opening tip. UCLA women’s basketball did not play its game against Texas Southern as originally scheduled Thursday night, also due to COVID-19, and both teams share the Mo Ostin Center for practices, dining, meetings, weight lifting and general training.
The only person confirmed on either team to have entered COVID-19 protocols is coach Mick Cronin, as the team announced his status several hours before the scheduled start time versus the Hornets. The game was still going to be played as scheduled with associate head coach Darren Savino stepping in as head coach for the time being, but that never came to pass.
After going through the entirety of the 2020-2021 campaign without having issues with COVID-19, it took one month for UCLA's latest season to get impacted by the virus. The Bruins did have multiple games delayed or canceled last year, but those were at the fault of Oregon, Long Beach State and the Pac-12 referees.
UCLA had a game scheduled for Dec. 5 canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Washington program, and the Huskies ultimately forfeited that matchup after the programs were unable to find a mutually agreeable makeup date.
The Bruins’ next contest is now scheduled for Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion against Cal Poly. After that, the next game isn’t until Dec. 30 against No. 7 Arizona, also to be played in Westwood.
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