Men’s Basketball

Northwestern announced its men’s basketball schedule Wednesday afternoon, a 24-game slate that, as currently constructed, will be the program’s shortest regular season since 1974.

The Wildcats will play four home non-conference games to kick off the season beginning Dec. 2, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Chicago State, Pittsburgh and SIU-Edwardsville. They will then open their 20-game conference slate against Michigan State on Dec. 20 in Evanston, before playing their first away game against Indiana three days later.

NU’s season will start four days later than previously thought, as the Cats have pulled out of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. The decision was made out of general concern for the pandemic, not because of any COVID-19 cases within the program, according to the athletic department.

NU was scheduled to play in the four-team tournament on Nov. 28 and 29, alongside South Carolina, TCU and Tulsa. The Cats would have faced the Gamecocks in the semifinals in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

The move comes amid a recent jump in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, with a record of 14 consecutive days of over 100,000 new cases nationwide. The state of Missouri has also seen a surge in cases, with a record of 7,164 new confirmed cases on Nov. 14. Thirty Division I men’s basketball teams are currently paused in some form due to COVID-19-related concerns, and some are on hold for the entire season.

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