UNC to play Kentucky after two teams in Vegas tournament sidelined by COVID cases
Posted December 16, 2021 6:21 p.m. EST
Updated December 17, 2021 5:39 p.m. EST
The North Carolina Tar Heels will meet Kentucky Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas instead of original opponent UCLA after coronavirus concerns sidelined two of four teams scheduled to play in that tournament.
A game between No. 15 Ohio State and No. 21 Kentucky scheduled for Saturday evening was canceled because of positive COVID-19 results within the Buckeyes program. On Friday morning, No. 4 UCLA announced that it would not field a team for a scheduled game against North Carolina in the same tournament. The Bruins had to cancel Wednesday’s home game against Alabama State due to COVID-19 protocols.
That left only UNC and Kentucky in Vegas. The two teams will play each other Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on the CBS and streamed on Paramount+.
The Tar Heels and Wildcats have squared off three times previously in the CBS Sports Classic, with Kentucky owning a 2-1 edge in those matchups. North Carolina won last year’s tilt, 75-63.
n the East Coast, No. 16 Seton Hall canceled Saturday's game against Iona in the Gotham Classic game at Madison Square Garden in New York because of COVID-19 issues within the Pirates’ program. The Big East school said the status of future games will be determined later.
The pandemic severely disrupted college sports in 2020, though this year's football season largely came off without widespread scheduling problems. The basketball season that began in early November has now seen the number of postponements or outright cancellations grow in the past two weeks, with Tulane idling its program all week.
A men’s game at Northwestern on Saturday was canceled due to positive COVID-19 results within the DePaul program. Second-ranked Duke has scheduled a Saturday game with Loyola Maryland as a replacement for a canceled matchup with Cleveland State. The Vikings have paused team activities and also canceled a Tuesday game at Kent State due to positive tests.
On the women’s side, No. 19 Kentucky’s nonconference game against Morgan State on Friday night has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Bears’ program. The school said in a release that a makeup date was possible but has not been scheduled. The Wildcats (6-3) will host USC Upstate on Sunday.
