COLUMBIA - A positive coronavirus test result and subsequent contact tracing within the Missouri men's basketball program announced Friday means the Tigers will not host LSU tonight.
The game, originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m., has been postponed and will be made up at a later date, the Southeastern Conference announced.
Missouri (7-2, 1-2 SEC), ranked No. 13, is coming off a head-scratching loss Tuesday night at Mississippi State in which the Tigers blew a 14-point lead early in the second half and lost by 15, 78-63. It's unclear when Missouri will get back on the court: the program has a home game scheduled for Tuesday against Vanderbilt and a Jan. 16 game at Texas A&M that are now both in question.
"This continues to be a challenging time across the college basketball landscape, and it is important that we prioritize the health and safety of our student-athletes first and foremost," Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said in a statement. "In laying out the schedule, the SEC has allowed for a week at the end of the season for the possibility that games would be canceled, and we look forward to hosting LSU at a later date. Once we can return to competition safely, we will do so."
Missouri had avoided COVID issues during the season up to this point.
Several other conference programs, including Tennessee, Mississippi and South Carolina, had been impacted at the start of the college hoops season. The Gamecocks played three games, the last of which was Dec. 5 against Houston, went into quarantine for more than three weeks before returning Jan. 2, opened SEC play Wednesday against Texas A&M with a win and are now back in quarantine.
South Carolina was originally scheduled to play Mississippi this weekend. LSU will now travel to Oxford to play the Rebels, in a game originally scheduled for Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. today.