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Arizona State men’s basketball has waited a while to return to the court, and now it appears they will have to wait even more after news that its upcoming matchup against Washington State on New Years Eve will be postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Sun Devil program.
The last time the Devils played a game was during their 76-63 loss to UTEP on December 16. Since then, the team has already had one game postponed, a scheduled December 22 matchup with Utah.
However, that was due to positive COVID-19 tests within Utah’s program. The Sun Devil Athletic Department released this statement earlier today:
There are a few important things to note about the statement. First, it leaves open the possibility to reschedule the game at some point in the future.
Second, the statement makes no mention about the current status of the Sun Devils’ next scheduled game, which would be against Washington on January 2.
While this is certainly disappointing news for the Devils, who have had one game cancelled and two postponed already this season, there is a silver lining.
By the time ASU can return to the court, it is almost certain they will have a healthy Marvin Bagley, who hurt his calf in the game against Cal on December 3.
The freshman’s ability to switch on defense and space the floor was sorely missed in the ASU’s losses to San Diego State and UTEP.
“After the UTEP game, we had some soul searching and some really tough love with film sessions and some really tough practices,” head coach Bobby Hurley said during an interview with 98.7 FM Arizona Sports on Tuesday. “We haven’t played in a long time, we’re anxious to get back out there and play a game.”
Like rush hour traffic, this season was always going to have its stops and starts, and currently, the Sun Devil men’s basketball program is in the midst of a prolonged stop.
Fortunately, the Pac-12 has built their schedule to have enough flexibility to accommodate postponements, and it is likely both the Utah and Washington State games will be played at some point this season.