COVID-19 changes Duke’s basketball schedule again
For the third time in a season that’s barely two weeks old, a scheduled Duke basketball game is postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the opposing team.
Charleston Southern announced Wednesday it is pausing its men’s basketball program and that Saturday’s game with No. 10 Duke, scheduled for 2 p.m at Cameron Indoor Stadium, is postponed.
The Buccaneers (1-3) last played Tuesday night, beating Carver Bible College, 94-59, in game played in Charleston, South Carolina. Carver, located in Atlanta, is a National Christian College Athletic Association school.
The school announced Wednesday a non-player tested positive and school is going through testing and contact tracing protocols.
“Our basketball team will be entering into a temporary pause in all activities due to a positive test within the Tier-1 part of our program,” Charleston Southern coach Barclay Radebaugh said in a statement. “When we decided to play our season, we set the standard that the health and safety of our players, coaches and staff are our priority.”
Charleston Southern’s game scheduled for Tuesday night in Durham at N.C. Central is also postponed.
Duke (2-2) also last played Tuesday night, losing 83-68 at home to No. 6 Illinois.
The Blue Devils saw their scheduled season opener, a Nov. 25 game with Gardner-Webb, postponed to because a Gardner-Webb player tested positive two days prior to the game. Duke’s scheduled game with Elon on last Sunday was postponed last week when Elon paused its program due to a positive test among its Tier 1 personnel group, which includes student-athletes, coaches, and support staff.
With the Charleston Southern game off this weekend, Duke’s next scheduled game is its ACC opener at Notre Dame on Dec. 16.
Although the games with Charleston Southern and Elon could still be rescheduled, the final nonconference game currently on Duke’s schedule is Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m on Dec. 19 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Following the Gardner-Webb game, Duke has no other games scheduled until it resumes ACC play at home with Pittsburgh on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, speaking during his postgame news conference via Zoom early Wednesday morning after the Blue Devils lost late Tuesday night to Illinois, responded to a question about trying to play through the pandemic by asking the NCAA to reassess the situation.
“Well, should we not reassess that, you know?” he said. “Just see what would be best? And look, I’m going to do whatever they say. We’re gonna make the most out of everything that’s said. But yeah, it’s a different time.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 4:00 PM.