Kentucky‘s men’s basketball program is pausing team activities and the Wildcats’ game against No. 5 Texas on Saturday has been canceled, the school announced Friday.
The school will reevaluate in 48 hours whether the Wildcats can resume practicing.
Kentucky said the pause was “due to a combination of positive testing, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the program.”
The Wildcats, off to one of the worst starts in program history, have lost four of their last five games and sit at 5-10 overall, 4-4 in the SEC.
Texas has seen three of its last four games postponed due to its opponent having COVID-19 issues, with Kentucky following Iowa State and TCU last week.
The Longhorns have their own COVID issues. Head coach Shaka Smart tested positive earlier in the week. Smart, Courtney Ramey, Jericho Sims and Brock Cunningham all missed Tuesday’s home loss to Oklahoma.
Texas’ next game is scheduled for Tuesday against No. 2 Baylor. Kentucky is scheduled to travel to No. 12 Missouri on Tuesday.
The Kentucky-Texas matchup was one of the headliners of Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Other marquee games include No. 9 Alabama at No. 24 Oklahoma and No. 15 Kansas at No. 18 Tennessee.