UW-Gonzaga Game Canceled, Pushing Husky Down Time to 3 Weeks
The Washington-Gonzaga basketball game in Spokane on Sunday has been canceled, which will create the biggest in-season gap between playing dates for the Huskies since World War Il.
A COVID-19 outbreak among team members, reportedly involving seven players and/or coaches according to a Los Angeles Times report, has prevented the UW from competing since losing to Winthrop 82-74 on Nov. 27 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Last week, the Huskies (4-5) postponed a game at Arizona and canceled another against UCLA at home that was forfeited. The pandemic-caused forfeit was the first for a college basketball nationwide this season.
With Sunday's game scrapped, the Huskies won't play for 21 days, until hosting Seattle U on Dec. 18.
The UW hasn't been idle this long during a season since early in the 1945-46 schedule, when it went 20 days without playing.
UW coach Mike Hopkins on his Tuesday night radio show said his team wasn't able to practice entering the week because of a shortage players with individuals confined to a 10-day quarantine.
“For the kids, it’s disappointing,” Hopkins said on his radio show. “You practice hard to get opportunities like this to play such an incredible schedule against great teams. But on the flip side, the COVID thing is real. You get a really good perspective when stuff like this happens. For us, it was obviously disappointing for the games, but we were just lucky that the people who do have COVID, that they’re OK."
This long Husky layoff is just another blow to the fifth-year basketball coach who is attempting to pull his program out of serious doldrums. He's lost 39 of his past 52 games over three seasons.
For that matter, a game against fifth-ranked Gonzaga (7-2) likely wouldn't have improved the UW's basketball fortunes. The Zags have won 12 of the past 13 meetings, losing only to a Brandon Roy-led team 99-95 16 years ago in Seattle.
Hopkins has been left to get his team healthy before he can make it competitive again.
“We’re following protocols and just trying to create the safest environment and do everything by the book,” the coach said on his show. “We’re obviously not allowed to practice right now. They want to have few people in the gym, but you still provide an environment where they can come in and get some shots in a safe environment."
With the game canceled, the UW and Gonzaga won't play again until next season.
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