Saturday’s Ohio State game against Kentucky has been cancelled after the Buckeyes had several COVID tests come back positive.
The Buckeyes were set to head to Las Vegas to face the Wildcats as part of the CBS Sports Classic, a four-team challenge that started in 2014 with Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA playing one another on a neutral court. Ohio State is 4-3 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic and 2-0 all-time against Kentucky as part of this series.
Ohio State (8-2, 2-0) is No. 15 in the Associated Press poll while the Kentucky Wildcats (7-2) are currently No. 21. This would have been Ohio State’s fifth ranked opponent of the season.
“The safety and well-being of the student-athletes, coaches, staff and Ohio State community is the highest priority,” Ohio State released in a statement. “All team related activities have been suspended and the players and staff will continue to be tested according to Ohio State protocols in consultation with the Big Ten Conference.”
All team-related activities have been suspended at this time.
The university does not disclose medical information on individual athletes so there is no news as to who may have tested positive and if anyone is being held out due to close contact, but the decision was made not to make the trip and attempt to play the game.
Ohio State is scheduled to play one game this upcoming week with Tennessee-Martin on the schedule for a Tuesday night contest (7:00pm – ESPNU) and the status of that game is unknown at this time.
Chris Holtmann’s team is on a three-game winning streak in the CBS Sports Classic, most recently with a win over UCLA in 2020, 77-70, in a game played in Cleveland. Ohio State also beat UCLA in 2018 and holds a win over Kentucky from the 2019 edition of the series, also played in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. The only team that Ohio State has not beaten in the series is North Carolina as the Tar Heels hold a 2-0 edge over the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes have won their last four games of the season including a 73-55 win over Wisconsin on December 11th, the last time that Ohio State took the court.
This game will not be rescheduled.
We will have more on this breaking news as it becomes made available.
