Louisville's ACC Opener vs. NC State Postponed

It is the third contest to be impacted because of the Cardinals' previous COVID-19 pause.

Photo of KFC Yum! Center: Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program is going to have to wait a little bit longer to start conference play.

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Sunday that the Cardinals' upcoming game vs. NC State, which was previously scheduled to be played on Wednesday, Dec. 16, has been officially postponed. The game would have been the ACC opener for both programs.

The league stated that the postponement "follows positive tests, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Louisville men’s basketball team."

While this could imply additional positive COVID-19 tests within the program, it might not necessarily be the case. Senior Associate AD Kenny Klein tells Louisville Report that they are "following (ACC) protocols and the recommendations of our medical staff for a safe return to physical activities after not practicing for many days."

The Cardinals recently resumed team activities after a week-long pause due to COVID-19. The team began with two days of individual/small group sessions last Thursday & Friday, transitioning to organized full team practices on Saturday. Louisville confirmed that program also practiced on Sunday as well.

This is the third contest to be impacted because of Louisville's COVID-19 pause. Their game against UNC Greensboro, which had been scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4 at the KFC Yum! Center, had to be cancelled. Louisville was also supposed to travel to Madison, WI on Dec. 9 to take on the Wisconsin Badgers as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, until that game had to be postponed.

Even if Louisville had not been experiencing COVID-19 issues, their contest vs. the Wolfpack was still in question. NC State announced on Dec. 9 that they were pausing all team-related activities "due to positive COVID-19 tests and accompanying contact tracing measures", and have yet to resume.

The Cardinals’ next scheduled game is Tuesday, Dec. 22 on the road against Pitt. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on regional sports networks (Fox Sports South in Louisville).

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook &Twitter:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI

Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp