Michigan State-Michigan men's basketball game postponed as Wolverines deal with COVID-19
10 Michigan State basketball and Michigan has been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within Wolverine's schedule, the schools announced less than eight hours before the scheduled tipoff.
This is the first time during the two coronavirus-disrupted seasons that the rivalry has been postponed. The time was fixed at 2:30 pm. Tipoff at the Chrysler Center in Ann Arbor on Fox, but the network's college basketball podcast "Titus & Tate" tweeted Saturday morning that the game was postponed "due to issues related to COVID-19."
Michigan said in a statement that after Friday night's test the team "fell below the Big Ten Conference roster minimum, with fewer than seven scholarship players available." According to a release from both schools, the events will coordinate with the Big Ten Conference office to reschedule the game.
U-M will provide fans with tickets to Saturday's originally scheduled game as soon as possible.
The Spartans are scheduled to host Minnesota at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Wolverine is scheduled to host Number 3 Purdue at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
MSU coach Tom Izzo said Thursday afternoon that he had not heard anything from Juwan Howard or anyone at U-M about the possibility of the game being called off. The Spartans went to Ann Arbor on Friday night and went through shooting practice at Chrysler when they arrived.
"Supposedly, the Big Ten rule is that if you've got seven scholarship players and you've got a coach. ... But there's a little caveat at the bottom of that rule that there's always an open door to it," Izzo said on Thursday. "I dunno. I mean, I think Michigan wants to play the game as bad as we want to play the game. If they don't have enough players and they postpone the game, they're going to stop the game." I adjourn. I haven't heard anything on that.
"I think the guys who were out of the last game with the new rules, if they get vaccinated - you know, I don't even know. I don't think any of us know anything about . I had a lot of problems with my team. We are about to schedule games to play. If it happens it will be great. And if it doesn't, it will be postponed."
MSU, who lead the Big Ten 4-0 and 13-2 on aggregate, have won eight games in a row.
Michigan, who are 7-6 and 1-2 in conference play, have lost three of their last four games, but the December 21 game against Purdue Fort Wayne was canceled. U-M lost 75-67 at Rutgers on Tuesday playing without four players and a staff member for "medical reasons", according to the school.
Big Ten Network reported that Brandon Johns Jr., Frankie Collins, Terrence Williams II and Jaron Foulds were out with video analyst Jaron Simmons, while the fifth player, guard Zeb Jackson, also did not make the trip for personal reasons.
