The University of Kentucky Athletics Department announced this morning that UK basketball will be put on pause for 48 hours due to positive Covid tests and contact tracing throughout the program, causing tomorrow night’s matchup against Texas to be canceled.

This is the first cancelation caused by tracing in the UK program, as the home games against South Carolina and Detroit Mercy that were canceled earlier in the season was due to tracing in the Gamecocks’ and Titans’ squad.

“The Kentucky men’s basketball program has been put on a 48-hour pause, including the cancellation of Saturday’s game vs. Texas, due to a combination of positive testing, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the program. The decision is consistent with Southeastern Conference COVID-19 and UK Athletics COVID-19 management requirements,” UK announced in their press release.

Since Kentucky is now sitting at 5-10 following the loss at Alabama on Tuesday, this upcoming game was going to be huge in possibly reviving UK’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid. Now, the Cats will at least have to wait until Feb. 2 when they are scheduled to play at Missouri to get a chance to regain momentum this season.