UCLA Men's Basketball Postpones Upcoming Games Versus Arizona, Arizona State

The Bruins remain shut down as a result of COVID-19 protocols and will not play again until Jan. 6 at the earliest.

The much-anticipated matchup of two of the best teams in the west will have to wait a little while longer.

No. 5 UCLA men's basketball (8-1, 1-0 Pac-12) has postponed its upcoming games against No. 6 Arizona (11-1, 1-0) and Arizona State (5-7, 1-1) originally set for Dec. 30 and Jan. 1, respectively, due to continued issues with COVID-19. The Wildcats and Sun Devils were supposed to play USC on their trip to Los Angeles as well, but the Trojans are in COVID shutdown at the moment as well and those games have also been pushed.

The Bruins have now called off five games in a row and have been facing issues with the virus for well over a week. The program remains shut down, and there are no team activities being held.

UCLA's upcoming home games against Arizona (Dec. 30) and Arizona State (Jan. 1) have been postponed.

DETAILS: https://t.co/0e4hTmCpN2 pic.twitter.com/3RboLWoN4l

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 24, 2021

The COVID-19 issues began for the Bruins when coach Mick Cronin entered COVID-19 protocols on Dec. 15, just hours before UCLA men's basketball was supposed to host Alabama State. Initially, the game was to be played as scheduled with associate head coach Darren Savino stepping up for Cronin, but an hour before the 8 p.m. tip-off, the matchup was shut down.

The Bruins were supposed to play North Carolina as part of the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 18, but that was canceled early in the morning the day before. The following game against Cal Poly was axed as well, meaning UCLA missed its last three nonconference games of the year.

With the Arizona and Arizona State games being pushed, the start of Pac-12 play has been pushed back to extend the team's hiatus.

Unlike the refund and school credit policies adopted for the Cal Poly game, UCLA Athletics announced that any tickets for the games versus the Wildcats and Sun Devils will be valid for whenever those end up happening.

While there were several games affected by COVID-19 last season, none of the postponements or cancelations were due to positive tests on the UCLA end. The Bruins had games postponed and canceled as a result of health and safety protocols from Long Beach State, Oregon and Pac-12 referees, and that streak continued when their game scheduled for Dec. 5 was canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Washington program.

The Huskies forfeited that matchup after the sides were unable to find a mutually agreeable makeup date, but due to a new Pac-12 policy on COVID-19 cancelations, that forfeit has been rescinded and declared a no contest.

Since UCLA's Dec. 1 game against Colorado, the team has played just one game – a road win over Marquette on Dec. 11. The next game on the slate for the Bruins is a road contest at Stanford on Jan. 6, meaning they are on track to go five full weeks having played just one game.

UCLA women's basketball pushed its upcoming game against USC to January on Wednesday, later postponing its own games versus the Arizona schools on Friday, so COVID-19 is affecting both hoops programs in Westwood at the moment.

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