UCLA-Long Beach State game postponed for second time because of coronavirus

The Beach is closed.

A positive coronavirus test within the Long Beach State men’s basketball program paused team operations for two weeks Tuesday, postponing its game against UCLA for a second time less than six hours before it was scheduled to tip off at Pauley Pavilion.

The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 30 before being delayed because of COVID-19 protocols. While a UCLA statement said both postponements were out of an “abundance of caution based on COVID-19 protocol within the Long Beach State program,� the first did not result in a full team stoppage for Long Beach State.

Long Beach State (1-2) had three rounds of testing for the coronavirus over the last three days, with all members of the program receiving negative results, according to a school statement Tuesday. Then tests before Tuesday’s game returned one positive result, and that individual was isolated. Long Beach State will miss five games during the two-week pause, including the first two games of its Big West Conference schedule.

The Bruins (5-1) have won five straight and have four days before their next scheduled game, against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday at 11 a.m. PST in Cleveland.

It’s the last nonconference game lined up before UCLA resumes its Pac-12 slate at Oregon on Dec. 23.

Sports

USC men’s basketball team postpones or cancels next three games because of COVID-19

The next three games for the USC men’s basketball team have been canceled or postponed in the wake of a positive coronavirus test involving the team.

Dec. 15, 2020