Mizzou-Mississippi State basketball game postponed
The Missouri basketball team will not play Wednesday's game against Mississippi State as scheduled, the school announced Monday. The postponement comes as a result of "a combination of positive (COVID-19) tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Mizzou program," per a release.
A makeup date has not yet been determined for Wednesday's game. Missouri is now scheduled to play its SEC home opener Saturday against Alabama, although that game could be in jeopardy, as well.
The SEC announced on Dec. 23 that basketball programs would be required to play if they had at least seven scholarship players and one coach available. Missouri, apparently, fell below those roster minimums. If the game is unable to be made up, it will be declared no contest, rather than a forfeiture.
The league also announced last week that it had shortened the mandatory quarantine time for people who test positive for COVID-19 to five days, provided they are fully vaccinated and test negative for the virus after the quarantine period. The change mirrored an update to CDC guidelines. Head coach Cuonzo Martin has told reporters that all of Missouri's players have received COVID-19 vaccinations.
Missouri has not revealed which players or coaches have tested positive for COVID-19 or who would be unavailable to play Wednesday. Martin announced on Dec. 27 that he had contracted the virus. Martin's diagnosis came after the entire team was tested following their return to campus from the Christmas holiday. A team spokesperson said last week that the program has not typically been "surveillance testing" this season, only testing individuals who have displayed symptoms. The team has not announced whether Martin has been cleared to return to the team.
The Missouri women's basketball team has been impacted by COVID-19, as well. The Tigers beat No. 1 South Carolina on Thursday with only eight scholarship players available. The team's matchup against Vanderbilt, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed. The Tiger women are scheduled to return to the court Thursday at Auburn.
Missouri announced that tickets to Wednesday's game will be honored if the matchup against Mississippi State is made up. If it is not played, tickets will be refunded.
Missouri (5-6) opened SEC play with a 27-point loss at Kentucky last week. Mississippi State opened conference play with a win over Arkansas to improve to 10-3 on the year.
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