Penn State basketball's game with Delaware State canceled
Penn State Nittany Lions basketball’s game against Delaware State slated for Wednesday has been canceled and will not be made up, according to a release.
The cancellation results from positive COVID-19 test results within the DSU program.
It’s a third consecutive cancellation for Micah Shrewsberry’s Nittany Lions, who have not played since a loss to Michigan State on December 11 after dealing with positive COVID-19 tests of their own.
Penn State returned to practice on Sunday night.
“We’re kind of going through some return-to-competition protocols right now,” Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said Monday. “We have everybody back. Everybody is here at practice. They haven’t all been cleared yet. They’re just going through some different things with what they need to do with our doctors.
“Once we get word from them, we’ll go with whoever they’ll clear. I guess that’s the word — I can’t anticipate anything. I don’t know.”
Wednesday’s cancellation denies the Nittany Lions a chance to find their footing again before taking on Indiana this Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“There were some guys that were in a pretty good rhythm,” Shrewsberry said. “They were playing pretty well. They were playing good minutes. And now, there’s that fear of: Am I not going to shoot the ball the same? Is my conditioning gonna drop a little bit? Those are all things that you have to try to calm during this time right now.”
The trio of cancellations will prove disappointing to Penn State’s players and coaches, with their nonconference slate at a sudden end.
Shrewsberry also highlighted the importance of the missed practice opportunities resulting from the Nittany Lions’ pause.
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“Obviously for us, practice time is really crucial,” Shrewsberry said, “especially when we’ve had guys in and out of the lineup. Being able to have everybody available and getting practice time and getting sharper in what we want to do offensively and defensively is all key to us going forward.
“Obviously, you miss that time.”
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A silver lining of the pause, for Shrewsberry, came in the form of a chance to reflect on the Nittany Lions’ 10 games so far.
Penn State sits at 5-5 and 0-2 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have kept things close against quality opponents like LSU and Ohio State, but haven’t quite been able to close the deal against top-level opposition.
“I actually got a lot of time to sit back and reevaluate everything that we were doing,” Shrewsberry said. “What’s working? What’s not working? How do we communicate that best? How can we change it, and how can we get better during this time that we have to practice?”
Shrewsberry acknowledged that the pause proved to be something of a setback for forward Greg Lee. The Western Michigan transfer returned from injury to make his Penn State debut against Michigan State, playing 15 minutes.
“I think Greg losing practice time hurts,” Shrewsberry said. “He was the one who we were trying to build up his time in terms of what he wanted to do.”
