Off The Inbound

BREAKING: Northern Iowa/Drake Game Canceled Due to COVID-19

March 5, 2021 Nick Schultz Conferences, Missouri Valley 0

Just when the Missouri Valley Conference tournament looked to be getting going, things turned fast.

No. 7-seeded Northern Iowa’s matchup with No. 2-seeded Drake was canceled Friday evening, The Valley announced. Reports say it’s due to COVID-19 issues within Northern Iowa’s program.

After Indiana State’s victory over Evansville, fans shared on Twitter that they couldn’t enter the arena. At 4:40 p.m. CST, reporters in the arena tweeted that no one was warming up before the next game. Eight minutes later, Drake walked out on the court and started shooting around.

At 5:16 p.m., Drake left the court, according to Paul Oren of the Times of Northwest Indiana. Sixteen minutes later, The Valley tweeted the game was off, and per tournament rules, Drake will advance to the Arch Madness semifinals.

The Valley was the only conference to play all 90 games during the regular season, but is now the first conference to be looking at a tournament game canceled due to COVID-19. The next scheduled game between No. 3-seeded Missouri State and No. 6-seeded Valparaiso is still on as planned at 8:08 p.m., according to the league.

UPDATE: 7:25 p.m. CST: The Valley released a statement about the cancellation of the game. Here it is in full:

The Missouri Valley Conference has cancelled the third quarterfinal game of the 2021 State Farm MVC Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test result (and subsequent contract tracing) among the University of Northern Iowa’s Tier I personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff.    As a result, Drake – UNI’s scheduled opponent — will advance to Saturday’s semifinals and will play the winner of the Missouri State-Valparaiso game, which will be played at 8 p.m. tonight as originally scheduled.

Each MVC program is required to undergo daily COVID-19 testing for the week preceding and throughout Arch Madness.  Beginning Wednesday (March 3), Mercy Corporate Health has partnered with the Conference to conduct a nightly PCR test of each team’s Tier 1 personnel at Enterprise Center.  UNI’s positive result was discovered as part of Thursday evening’s testing.   For the MVC’s championship at Enterprise Center, decisions relating to the safe navigation of tournament play are ultimately made by St. Louis City’s Board of Health, which includes the implementation of contact tracing guidelines outlined by the CDC and the City of St. Louis.   Utilizing the City of St. Louis guidelines, contact tracing revealed that UNI did not have enough available players to compete.   

“UNI and other institutions ultimately relied on Conference policies that have been in place all season and were thought to be applicable here at the tournament.  It should be noted UNI followed those procedures during their participation in the event,” said Commissioner Doug Elgin.

“However, the City of St. Louis Board of Health Department COVID orders take precedence over MVC protocols, and none of our institutions were aware that this was in place. In all prior communication we had with St. Louis’ local health authorities, we had clearly indicated that the MVC adhered to C.D.C. guidelines and NCAA Resocialization Guidelines.

The MVC did not have the necessary conversations with local health officials to clarify that the administration of the tournament would be governed by St. Louis Health Commissioner’s COVID orders. 

I apologize and take full responsibility for not resolving the administration of policies that are in place during this year’s tournament.”

MVC athletically-related activities will take place only to the extent permitted by local environments and applicable national, state, local and institutional guidelines in order to safeguard the health and safety of participants, staff and fans.   Refunds will be made available to all ticket buyers at their original point of purchase. For tickets purchased through ticketmaster.com, tickets will be automatically refunded.