UK-Texas A&M basketball game set for Tuesday is postponed. Here’s Calipari’s plan.
Kentucky won its third straight basketball game Saturday — a 70-55 victory at No. 19 Tennessee — and the Cats finally look like they might be turning a corner, but it will likely be another week before they get a chance to keep that momentum going.
UK’s game against Texas A&M — originally scheduled for Tuesday night in Rupp Arena — has been postponed.
Texas A&M officially announced Saturday night that the game would be postponed “due to a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Texas A&M program, consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 management requirements.”
No makeup date has been set.
The Aggies have not played since Jan. 30 due to cancellations related to COVID-19, and UK Coach John Calipari — speaking on his postgame radio show Saturday afternoon — didn’t sound optimistic that the Cats would play their scheduled game with Texas A&M this week.
Calipari had previously said that he had some backup options with non-conference opponents if Kentucky needed to get more games in to end the regular season, but it doesn’t sound like that would happen this week.
“The gauntlet that these kids have just been through, I’m not sure we don’t take a couple days and catch our breath and then try to play A&M and South Carolina both at that last week (in the season), where we get three games in a week,” he said. “(So) we’d play at Mississippi and then have two home games before our conference tournament. That would be what I’d like to do.
“These kids need a breath. C’mon. They’ve been through a gauntlet.”
Kentucky’s league opener against South Carolina — scheduled for Dec. 29 in Lexington — was also postponed due to COVID-19 and has not yet been rescheduled. South Carolina (5-11, 3-9 SEC) and Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6 SEC) are 12th and 13th in the SEC standings, respectively.
UK currently has a home game against Florida (Feb. 27) and a road game at Mississippi (March 2) left on its schedule. The weekend of March 6-7, which would typically be the final weekend of the regular-season schedule, has been left empty and could be used to make up previously postponed games. The SEC Tournament is scheduled to begin March 10 in Nashville.
Kentucky has defeated Auburn, Vanderbilt and Tennessee after losing six of its previous seven games. The Cats are now 8-13 on the season and 7-7 in the SEC, just one game behind Tennessee for the No. 4 spot in the SEC standings. The top four seeds in the SEC Tournament next month will get a bye into the Friday quarterfinals, meaning any of those teams would require just three victories to win the tournament.
Kentucky almost certainly would have to win the SEC Tournament to make this year’s NCAA Tournament.
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 4:34 PM.
