CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – North Carolina had hoped the days of game cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19 were left in the past. That, unfortunately, is not the case. For the second year in a row, a last-minute scheduling change will pit UNC against No. 21 Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday. The game will tip at 5:30 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena.
The Tar Heels (8-2, 1-0 ACC) were originally scheduled to play No. 4 UCLA in the first game of the holiday event with Kentucky and Ohio State playing in the second game. That plan remained in place until Thursday afternoon when the UK-OSU game was cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within the Buckeyes’ program. UNC’s game with UCLA was already at risk as the Bruins canceled their game against Alabama State on Wednesday night due to COVID-19 protocols.
While UNC was practicing and packing up to fly to Las Vegas on Thursday, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond tweeted out at noon that there was no update yet available on the status of Saturday’s game between his program and the Tar Heels. The confirmation that UCLA was taking a pause and bowing out of the CBS Sports Classic finally came shortly after 10 a.m. on Friday. UNC announced Kentucky as its opponent approximately 30 minutes later.
COVID-19 forced the cancellations of four ACC games for UNC during the 2020-21 season, including three home games. That was after the NCAA’s preseason decision to limit schedules to 27 games, which wiped five non-conference games off the slate.
The CBS Sports Classic changed its matchups three days before last season’s event in an effort to more closely align COVID-19 testing protocols between the competing programs and their respective conferences. UNC was originally scheduled to play Ohio State in Cleveland before defeating Kentucky, 75-63, on Dec. 19.
“We’ve been through this last year,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said on Thursday. “We know that in situations like this things can change. I was just reminded this morning that we had two games last year – two that I can remember – we had already gone through the scouting report and didn’t have a chance to play Clemson and then we had the Miami game at home that was canceled right before the game.
“Those are things that we cannot control. What we can control is how we prepare, how we practice and how we play. And so I always talk to the guys about let’s focus our attention to things that we can control. And that’s taking care of ourselves here, being the best team that we can be in and when we leave the court making smart choices from a health standpoint. But those are things that we talk to the team about consistently every day.”
UNC is 5-2 all-time in the CBS Sports Classic and 1-2 against Kentucky in the event. The Wildcats are 7-2 and had their seven-game losing streak snapped by Notre Dame last weekend. Saturday’s game marks the fifth time in six years these programs have met. The blue-blooded rivals are 2-2 in those previous four meetings.