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Oklahoma basketball: Season opener pushed back by COVID

By Chip Rouse

Rob Thomas, an employee with CSE Sports, talks on the phone from a team bench after the SEC announced Thursday morning the cancellation of the 2020 SEC men's college basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The SEC Conference announced the cancellation of the 2020 SEC Men's College Basketball Tournament after the COVID-19 outbreak. March 12, 2020.Sec Tournament
Rob Thomas, an employee with CSE Sports, talks on the phone from a team bench after the SEC announced Thursday morning the cancellation of the 2020 SEC men's college basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The SEC Conference announced the cancellation of the 2020 SEC Men's College Basketball Tournament after the COVID-19 outbreak. March 12, 2020.Sec Tournament /
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The men’s Oklahoma basketball team is going to have to wait awhile to tip off the 2020-21 college season.

The Sooners paused organized team activities on Thanksgiving Day eve because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, according to information posted on the OU athletic website.

The OU men were scheduled to open the season on Wednesday night hosting the University of Texas-San Antonio at Lloyd Noble Center. That game, plus the one at Central Florida on Saturday have been postponed. It is unclear at this time if the two games will be rescheduled for a later date or cancelled

At the same time, the Big 12 issued a similar announcement stating that the scheduled football game between Oklahoma and West Virginia at West Virginia on Saturday night had been postponed, also because of COVID concerns at Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma women did, however, play their scheduled season opener, losing to the University of Houston 97-85 Wednesday afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center. A scheduled appearance, however, in the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, beginning on Saturday, has been cancelled.

The Lady Sooners were scheduled to play Gonzaga, No. 1 South Carolina and South Dakota State in that Thanksgiving holiday tournament.

The next scheduled game for the Sooner men is a home game against Florida on Dec. 2.

The women will have to wait a little longer. Their next game will be at Georgia on Dec. 6 as part of the Big 12/SEC Basketball Challenge. The Oklahoma men will play that same day, kicking off the Big 12 schedule at TCU.

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