Florida basketball games at LSU and Tennessee become eighth and ninth games postponed in 2020-21

By Adam Silverstein
February 5, 2021

Basketball

Fresh off a home upset to a sub-.500 South Carolina team, No. 22 Florida Gators basketball will not get an opportunity to atone for its defeat anytime soon. The SEC announced Friday that COVID-19 issues within the Florida program have forced the postponement of Saturday’s road game against the LSU Tigers. On Sunday, the league officially postponed UF’s subsequent road game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

No makeup dates have been scheduled at this time.

This is the second time Gators basketball has experienced expansive COVID-19 absences due to positive tests and contact tracing. The first came in the offseason as Florida was prepared to play the delayed 2020-21 campaign. UF has also seen a couple players removed from competition for reasons related to COVID-19 over the course of the season.

Florida’s first three games of the season were canceled with the Gators not suiting up until Dec. 2. They then missed four games in late December 2020 as the team recovered from the sudden collapse of junior forward Keyontae Johnson in the first half of a game against Florida State on Dec. 12. UF had played 11 games uninterrupted since resuming action on Dec. 30.

None of the prior seven postponed games — all nonconference contests — have been rescheduled for this season.

Florida did not provide further details. It was likely looking forward to facing Tennessee again and potentially earning another Quadrant 1 victory as the Gators make their push for the NCAA Tournament. They previously upset the then-No. 6 Vols 75-49 on Jan. 19.

UF’s next scheduled game is now set for Saturday, Feb. 13 vs. Texas A&M. Florida has six games left on its regular-season slate if no postponed games are rescheduled.