COVID Issues Hit Husky Hoop Team; Arizona Game Postponed

The teams were supposed to play their conference opener on Thursday night in Tucson.

So much for the Pac-12 opener for the University of Washington men's basketball team. 

On Wednesday night, the school announced that the Husky game against the 11th-ranked Arizona Wildcats in Tucson the following night has been postponed, with COVID-19 issues creating problems for Mike Hopkins' team. 

The teams were supposed to tip off at 5:30 p.m. and the contest was to be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.

This coming Sunday at noon, Washington is scheduled to host the fifth-ranked UCLA Bruins (6-1) at Alaska Airlines Arena, but it's unclear if that game will be affected by the pandemic problems now in place.

Basketball-wise, this is a Husky team that still hasn't completely found its way out of the depths following a 5-21 season. It stands 4-4, but considering the mundane teams it has faced its ledger realistically should be better than break even.

Had the Huskies gone to Tucson, they would have faced a towering Arizona team coached by Tommy Lloyd, the longtime Gonzaga assistant coach and master international recruiter.

Lloyd runs everything through 7-foot-1, 230-pound Christian Koloko of Cameroon and 6-foot-11, 245-pound Azuolas Tubelis of Lithuania, both 16-point scorers. It's been hard for anyone to stop.

Hopkins' lineup hasn't strayed at all this season from 6-foot-7 forward Emmitt Matthews Jr., 6-foot-11 center Nate Roberts; and guards in 6-foot-6 Jamal Bey, 6-foot-3 Daejon Davis and 6-foot-3 Terrell Brown Jr. 

There's no indication if any of these players currently are affected by COVID-19. Hoewver, Brown, the UW's leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, was scheduled to take part in a Tuesday afternoon media session, but didn't show, with the school indicating he had a conflict.  

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