The upheaval continues in college basketball, and that includes the Big 4 teams.
Between Dec. 21 and Sunday, 13 games involving the Big 4’s men’s and women’s teams were either canceled or postponed due to Covid-19 issues.
Some were because Big 4 teams had issues in their programs, and some were out of the hands of the Big 4 teams, as opposing programs were impacted by Covid-19 protocols and positive cases.
Three programs have been sidelined in the last week due to Covid-19 protocols within their programs – the Canisius men and women, and St. Bonaventure men – while the Niagara men and women had games canceled or postponed due to protocols in opposing programs.
The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team has had two games postponed due to issues in other programs, and has played two games without its head coach, Jim Whitesell, who entered Covid-19 protocols Dec. 28.
People are also reading…
As of Monday, the only team whose schedule had yet to be impacted was the UB women.
“It’s hard on me, it’s hard on the coaches,” UB women's coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “I was talking to the head coach at Central Michigan before the game (Dec. 29) and she left three kids home, and I have two kids, one kid with Covid-19 and another kid isn’t here right now, and it’s just hard. It’s a mental challenge. It’s a health challenge.
"Sometimes, I catch myself in my home, just crying. I don’t know the answers. My players don’t know. I don’t have all the answers, but we can figure it out together. That makes us really connected in our fox hole because they understand that I am going to give them my best effort, and my best information about what to do next, and they’re going to give their best.”
The spike in cases across the country has impacted more than 150 programs since Dec. 27, according to a Buffalo News database that is tracking Covid-19 issues in college basketball. By comparison, only 13 programs had reported Covid-19 issues in the first month of the season, which began Nov. 9.
Many conferences, including the Mid-American Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Association and the Atlantic 10, have revamped their forfeit policies. But as quickly as games are being postponed, they’re also being rescheduled or moved around.
The Canisius men had games at Saint Peter's and at Siena rescheduled, and now the Griffs have two stretches of five games in 10-day windows.
First, the Griffs play five games from Jan. 14 to Jan 23: Jan. 14 at Niagara, Jan. 16 at Manhattan and Jan. 18 at Saint Peters. Three days later, the Griffs host Rider, then host Saint Peter’s on Jan. 23.
Then, from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6, Canisius plays three road games in four days (Jan. 28 at Monmouth, Jan. 30 at Rider, Feb. 1 at Siena) and a pair of home games Feb. 4 against Iona and Feb. 6 against Manhattan at the Koessler Center.
The UB men’s schedule has also been rearranged. The Bulls had their scheduled game Saturday against Bowling Green moved to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Alumni Arena.
Then, when UB’s game at Akron was moved from Feb. 1 to Saturday, the Bulls were without forwards Josh Mballa and Tra’Von Fagan due to Covid019 protocols in a 88-76 loss. Their absences came three days after a 91-81 loss to Miami (Ohio) at Alumni Arena. Miami's program subsequently was paused due to Covid-19 issues.
“We told our guys, we don’t know who we’re going to play because our next two games are canceled,” UB acting coach Angres Thorpe said last week. “We knew we were going to play someone Saturday, and possibly someone on Tuesday.
“We know the rest of the year is going to be very similar to that. We may not have an idea of who we’re going to play.”
UB's Fair seventh in nation in scoring
The UB women are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bowling Green, and as of Tuesday morning, Bulls guard Dyaisha Fair is seventh in the nation and leads the MAC in scoring, averaging 22.2 points per game. She was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week for helping the Bulls to a 2-0 start in conference play.
UB is scheduled to return to Alumni Arena to face Kent State at 1 p.m. Saturday. The UB women are 6-0 at Alumni Arena this season, and haven’t lost a game on their home court since Feb. 17, 2021, when Ball State defeated the Bulls 76-63. The Bulls were also 6-2 at home in 2020-21.
Cheektowaga’s Welch approaches milestone
Two of St. Bonaventure's guards are closing in on 1,000 career points. Dominick Welch (Cheektowaga) needs 84 points to reach 1,000, while guard Jalen Adaway has 898 points in four seasons (two at Miami (Ohio) and two at Bona).
Welch is averaging 11.2 points per game, and Adaway is averaging 13.6 points per game.
Plenty of minutes for the Griffs
Canisius guard Jordan Henderson played a game-high 43:16 minutes in the Griffs’ 97-90 overtime win Dec. 23 against Florida Gulf Coast. It’s the most minutes played by a Griff in a single-overtime game since Malik Johnson played 43 minutes in Canisius’ 69-65 win against Manhattan in a MAAC Tournament quarterfinal March 8, 2019, in Albany.
Griffs coach Reggie Witherspoon won his 77th game at Canisius with the win against FGCU, and now has wins against 78 different Division I opponents in his coaching career.
Game of the week
Saint Louis at St. Bonaventure, 4 p.m. Saturday: The Bonnies’ immediate schedule has been in doubt, after the program announced Dec. 31 that it had entered Covid-19 protocols. However, Bona-Saint Louis remains on the schedule, and Bona needs Atlantic 10 wins to pursue a return to the NCAA Tournament. The Bonnies, though, will have to shake off the rust of not playing for more than two weeks, and must bounce back after an 86-49 loss Dec. 17 against Virginia Tech.
