UConn men’s basketball’s game against Butler canceled

The Big East conference announced on Wednesday that UConn men’s basketball’s home game against Butler set for Jan. 1 has been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Huskies’ program.

The game will be attempted to be rescheduled, in accordance with conference policy, though a date has yet to be announced. The school announced in a statement that information on future games will be released in the coming days.

This is the second UConn men’s basketball game to be canceled this week, as the Dec. 28 contest against Xavier was also moved due to issues within the Huskies’ program. UConn announced earlier this week that head coach Dan Hurley is among those that tested positive.

Big East men’s programs have lost five games to postponement, one of which has already been rescheduled, as well as six games to cancellation, of which three were non-conference contests. Women’s teams have had eight cancellations, two of which were non-conference games.

Currently, the conference requires a 10-day quarantine for any positive test and requires each team to have at least seven healthy players. As a result, if the positive tests for players came Dec. 26, they would be eligible to return Jan. 5, three days before its next scheduled game, which is on the road against Seton Hall. Any player or coach that tests positive after Dec. 29 would be ineligible for the game against the Pirates.

This new wave of COVID-19 has hit UConn athletics hard, as women’s basketball has announced two cancellations of its own for games this week against Marquette and DePaul. Meanwhile, men’s hockey had four games postponed at the beginning of December, though its series against Merrimack has been rescheduled. It is unclear if the Huskies’ two contests against AIC will be played.