Published: Friday 19 February 2021
FAYETTEVILLE – The men’s basketball game between No. 24 Arkansas and Texas A&M will not be played as scheduled on Saturday due to positive cases of covid-19 and quarantines in the Aggies program.
No makeup dates were announced for the game that was scheduled to be played in College Station, Texas. It will be the sixth consecutive Texas A&M game that has been postponed, increasing the likelihood that some of the Aggies’ games will not be compensated this year.
“We found out as we boarded the bus to travel to College Station today that our game tomorrow was canceled,” Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman said in a statement. “Our players are devastated for not being able to compete.”
Musselman said the Razorbacks will try to schedule a non-conference game this weekend. Dan Leibovitz, the SEC’s associate commissioner for basketball, said Arkansas had received permission from the SEC to try a non-conference game.
Arkansas (17-5, 9-4 SEC) had two games canceled against Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6) and the chances are slim that both games can be recovered before the SEC tournament that is scheduled to start March 10. The Aggies were scheduled to play on February 6 in Fayetteville.
If the Razorbacks are unable to play Texas A&M twice before the tournament, they will leave Arkansas below the maximum number of NCAA games allowed (27) during the regular season.
The Aggies haven’t played since January 30 and haven’t played an SEC game since January 26. Five of Texas A&M’s six postponements are related to covid-19, while the team’s scheduled game against Alabama on Thursday was canceled due to travel after a winter storm.
Arkansas’s next scheduled game is on Wednesday against No. 8 Alabama at the Bud Walton Arena in a team clash with the SEC’s two best records. The denunciation of this game is scheduled for 8pm.
Crimson Tide (17-5, 12-1), who are scheduled to host Vanderbilt on Saturday, defeated the Razorbacks 90-59 on January 16 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Arkansas has not lost a conference game since the trip to Alabama.
The Razorbacks defeated Florida 75-64 earlier this week to extend their winning streak to seven SEC games.
If Arkansas does not play this weekend, it will have at least eight days between games. The Razorbacks are 4-0 this season, when they have four or more days to prepare for an opponent, and are 11-0 in those games under Musselman.