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Illinois basketball loses Thanksgiving game due to opponents’ COVID-19 situation
Published:
Illinois has lost one of their opponents for this season as Wright State has opted out of their game with them due to positive COVID-19 tests.
The news was reported earlier today by Derek Piper of of 247Sports:
#Illini basketball's Thanksgiving Day opponent Wright State has opted out of next week's MTE due to positive COVID-19 tests.https://t.co/kshl9V5nZa
— Derek Piper (@DPiper247) November 20, 2020
The two teams were supposed to play on Thanksgiving (Nov. 26th) next week.
In a statement courtesy of 247Sports, Wright State said, “Due to a lack of available student-athletes as a result of quarantining individuals with positive COVID-19 tests and those designated as close contacts, along with injuries, the Wright State men’s basketball team will not travel to Illinois to open the season over Thanksgiving.”
Illinois has also released a statement:
#illini official statement on Wright State cancellation: “We are currently exploring options to fill the opening in our multi-team event with the goal of continuing the four-team format as scheduled. We will share more information once we have a finalized contract.”
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 20, 2020
This was expected to be a pretty good game considering that Wright State won 25 games last season and that Loudon Love is back for them, who’s their best player.
Illinois will open their season on Nov. 25 against North Carolina A&T.