The men’s basketball game in Friday’s fourth final of the Missouri Valley Conference between Drake and northern Iowa was canceled, the league announced.
Drake, who currently competes in the NCAA tournament, automatically advanced to the semifinals in St. Louis. Louis.
The league tweeted its announcement, saying an official statement was being made, but gave no reason for the cancellation. The stadium reported that it was due to a COVID-19 problem within the northern Iowa program.
It’s a particularly notable decision due to Drake’s state in the bubble. The Bulldogs, the 2nd seed of the conference tournament, entered Friday as one of the “last four byes” in Joe Lunardi’s last stretch, with ESPN analyst saying Drake needed to win the quarterfinals. Friday’s final and probably Saturday’s semifinal to stay in the big discussion.
The Bulldogs will face the winner of Missouri State-Valparaiso in a semifinal on Saturday.
It was the second lost conference tournament of the week; Holy Cross was forced to leave the Patriot League tournament due to problems with COVID, which allowed Loyola Maryland to advance. Jacksonville and Charleston Southern were also forced to lose their conference tournaments due to COVID issues.