Syracuse vs. UNC Basketball Game Postponed Because of COVID-19 Protocols

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

The ACC announced Wednesday that the scheduled men's basketball matchup between Syracuse and North Carolina for Saturday, Jan. 2 has been postponed. 

Per that press release, the decision "follows positive tests in a recent Syracuse opponent, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing required for the Syracuse men’s basketball team."

North Carolina (5-3) is currently ranked No. 17 in the nation, though that may change after Tuesday's 79-76 loss vs. NC State. 

"The difference in the game to me was their sense of urgency early in the game," head coach Roy Williams told reporters after the loss. "The first 10, 12, 14 minutes, their sense of urgency was greater than ours. They shot 70 percent, got every rebound when they did miss a shot. And so all of a sudden, (we're trailing by 17)."

"I just think for us moving forward, we just need to play with more fire, more intensity and stop letting players out hustle us a little bit," R.J. Davis added. "It's just like the little things that we have to fix."

Syracuse (6-1) has had an excellent start to the season, though matchups against Notre Dame, Wake Forest and now North Carolina have been postponed. The Orange also paused for two weeks ahead of the regular season after positive tests for COVID-19 within the program, including head coach Jim Boeheim. 

"Our top priority is the health and well-being of our student-athletes, Coach Boeheim and all members of the basketball program," athletic director John Wildhack said in a statement at the time. "Per our COVID safety protocols, following Coach's positive test we conducted an additional round of testing for all members of the basketball program. From that testing we learned that one other member of the program has tested positive."

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