Kansas withdraws from Big 12 tournament after positive COVID-19 test, Texas advances to finals

The Kansas basketball team withdrew from the Big 12 tournament on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19. The Jayhawks were scheduled to face Texas on Friday night in the league semifinals, and now, due to the withdrawal, the Longhorns will advance to face the winner of Oklahoma State and Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game on Saturday. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports was the first to report that Kansas was forced out of the Big 12 tournament on Friday.

“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that we cannot continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” head coach Bill Self said in a statement. “Although we have been fortunate enough to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that all participants try to avoid. We have followed the daily tests and additional protocols that have been put in place. up for us, unfortunately we took a bad break. at the wrong time. I can’t wait to prepare my team in a probably unique way for next week’s NCAA tournament. “

It’s unclear who the player who tested positive is, but a source told Norlander it was someone who played in KU’s Thursday night game against Oklahoma. Only seven Jayhawks players saw some action in Thursday night’s win, in part because they had already faced COVID issues at the start of the week. Starting center David McCormack and reserve Tristan Enaruna were excluded from the Big 12 tournament before the team left for Kansas City, both being placed in health and safety protocols.

Self said ahead of the Big 12 tournament that he expected both to be available for the NCAA tournament, but this is a new wrinkle that could throw a wrench in the availability of other KU players for next week’s NCAA tournament given the contact tracing and quarantine measures that will allow it. be carried out. According to NCAA protocols, playing in the Big Dance requires seven consecutive days of negative test results among Level 1 personnel before arriving in Indianapolis, which means testing has already started.

KU’s sudden withdrawal from the tournament due to a positive COVID test marks a worrying theme for major conference teams in recent days across the country. Duke had to withdraw from the ACC tournament on Thursday – and thus ended his season – after a player who had not played the day before tested positive. Virginia had to do the same on Friday because a player who appeared in the team’s game on Thursday tested positive.