Texas Basketball: Last game of calendar year canceled due to COVID-19

What was originally scheduled to be the last game of the calendar year for Texas basketball, on Dec. 29 against TAMU-CC, is canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

An outing that would’ve been the final game of this calendar year for head coach Shaka Smart and No. 10 ranked Texas basketball was just canceled out in the wake of novel coronavirus related issues on one side. Texas men’s hoops was supposed to face the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders on the night of Dec. 29.

Yet, the matchup with Texas A&M Corpus Christi was canceled out since the Islanders have reportedly paused team basketball activities in the wake of their own COVID-19 related issues. With the game just a few days away, that was enough for the Islanders and Longhorns to go ahead and call it early.

This is now the second game of the regular season slate that the Longhorns had pushed and/or canceled in the wake of COVID-19 related issues for their opposition. The other was originally scheduled for Dec. 13, on the road on Dec. 13 at the Ferrell Center against the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears.

That matchup with Texas A&M Corpus Christi was supposed to be the second-to-last non-conference game of this regular season for the Longhorns. The last will now take place on Jan. 30 on the road at Rupp Arena against head coach John Calipari and the Kentucky WIldcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi was set to come into this game carrying a record of 3-6. The last game the played in came on Dec. 22, in a win over Paul Quinn University at home.

And the last game that the Longhorns played in was a de facto Big 12 opener against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at home on Dec. 20. Texas got that win last weekend over the Pokes by the final score of 77-74.

Texas now will carry a record of 7-1 (1-0 Big 12) after the win over Oklahoma State on Dec. 20 at the Frank Erwin Center. They will now take on head coach Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks on the road in Lawrence on Jan. 2.

The difficulties of making this college hoops season happen in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to the forefront of late for Smart and the Longhorns. But hopefully Texas will be ready for their Jan. 2 matchup with Kansas after roughly a dozen day long hiatus.