No. 5 Texas at Kentucky canceled

The No. 5 Texas Longhorns will not travel to Lexington on Saturday to face the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge after the game was canceled on Friday due to COVID-19 issues in the Kentucky program.

The Wildcats are now subject to a 48-hour pause due to a combination of positive testing, contact tracing, and resulting quarantining of individuals within the program, consistent with SEC protocols and Kentucky COVID-19 management requirements.

Saturday’s cancellation marks the third postponement or cancellation in the last four games for the Longhorns and the fourth overall this season.

Texas has dealt with its own COVID-19 issues recently — head coach Shaka Smart tested positive on Monday, redshirt sophomore guard Brock Cunningham has missed the last two games, and contact tracing left the Longhorns with only three available players recently in the days before the Jan. 20 game against the Cyclones was postponed.

The layoff clearly impacted Texas against Oklahoma, as acting head coach KT Turner noted slow feet for the Horns and entered the game wondering if senior guard Matt Coleman could even play after how gassed he was in practice on Monday. Texas only had eight scholarship players available for the game.

The next scheduled game for Texas is in Austin on Tuesday against No. 2 Baylor at 6 p.m. Central on ESPN. It will be the second game in 17 days for the Longhorns.