Kansas’ game Tuesday against TCU moved back; postponed Iowa State game is rescheduled
The Big 12 Conference has made a pair of adjustments to Kansas’ men’s basketball schedule because of COVID-19 protocols in the league.
The Jayhawks’ upcoming home game against TCU, set for Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, the league office announced Thursday. The broadcast will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Horned Frogs are in the midst of a stretch of three games that have already been postponed because of COVID-19 issues in the Horned Frogs program: Jan. 16 at West Virginia and home games against Texas Tech on Jan. 20 and Texas on Jan. 23. Coach Jamie Dixon, in fact, announced he is in quarantine himself because of a positive test.
The conference also has rescheduled last Saturday’s KU-Iowa State game to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, also at Allen Fieldhouse and streamed on ESPN+. Saturday’s game was postponed because of COVID-19 issues in ISU’s program.
This sets up a pair of interesting scenarios. KU will play TCU at home next Thursday, then immediately head to Tennessee for a Big 12/SEC Challenge game against the Vols on Saturday, Jan. 30.
Also, KU will now play Iowa State in an unusual home-and-home series, first Thursday, Feb. 11 in Lawrence, then at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 in Ames.
“Everybody is going to have to do some things this year that’s a little bit out of their comfort zone,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday, indicating he was not going to complain about anything regarding scheduling in this pandemic-plagued season.
“Certainly playing Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, whatever it is, I don’t think is ideal for preparation. (But) if you look across America some teams are playing games coming off not practicing a week. As long as we stay healthy I’m just happy we’re getting the games in,” Self added.
The postponement of last Saturday’s home game against Iowa State means the Jayhawks’ 11 a.m. game Saturday at Oklahoma will be KU’s third consecutive road game.
KU (10-4, 4-3) has started this stretch with losses at Oklahoma State and Baylor.
“Saturday’s game is important,” Self said, immediately adding, “it’’s kind of crap that you lose two in a row and the sky is falling because there wasn’t a home game in between you could make sure that didn’t happen.
“I’m not saying that guarantees victory (in last Saturday’s scheduled home game versus ISU). Usually over time we’re pretty good at home. That makes it harder. It kind of gives you a false sense. That’s basically three road games in a row in our league. I don’t think anybody would say that’s a formula that’s great.”
He added: “We lost to Oklahoma State (75-70, Jan. 12). We played poorly but had a shot. Then we play a team as good as Baylor. If you don’t play really really well, you’ll probably go home sad there. We were not really good. We were OK (in 77-69 loss Monday). Then you play a team Saturday (at OU) that can beat anybody in our league, especially at home. It’s a hard league.
“This is one of those years I’m not going to get hung up on what-ifs. I’m not going to get hung up on being thrown a curveball, none of that stuff. I’m just going to roll with it and hopefully our players can do the same thing. That to me is the best way to attack this year, in a way we can maximize our chances to play as many games and be as effective as we can be.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Kansas’ game Tuesday against TCU moved back; postponed Iowa State game is rescheduled."
