Arizona's Pac-12 opener against Washington on Thursday won't be played because of COVID-19 protocols within the Huskies' program, Washington confirmed in a statement Wednesday evening.
Washington said the Pac-12 would work with the schools to find a mutually agreeable date for rescheduling the game. Later Wednesday evening, Arizona said that tickets for Thursday's game will be honored on the rescheduled date.
The 11th-ranked Wildcats are next scheduled to play at Oregon State on Sunday, then return home Wednesday for a nonconference game vs. Wyoming.
Washington appeared to have been proceeding earlier in the week as if the game would be played. The school held a media Zoom press conference for Tuesday afternoon to preview the game; however, Washington guard Terrell Brown did not appear as scheduled for unspecified reasons.
Washington's COVID-19 issues were the first this season to affect the UA men's basketball season, though UA football and UA women's basketball teams have already been affected by their opponents' protocols. Last week, UC Riverside canceled Friday's scheduled game against the UA women's team in California because of COVID-19 issues in their program.
In football, Arizona beat Cal 10-3 on Dec. 4 for its only victory of the season after the Bears had seven starters and 24 total players taken out because of COVID-19-related issues.
Earlier Wednesday, UA women's basketball coach Adia Barnes said the virusΒ remains very much a concern, even though her team is vaccinated and she has received a booster.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd has said the UA men's basketball team is "100%" vaccinated but said Wednesday he was aware COVID concerns were affecting attendance at McKale Center.
Last season, the Wildcats did not have any known COVID issues affecting a game. However, seven of their games were either postponed or canceled because of their opponents' COVID-19 protocols.
