Aztecs

Aztecs Join Other San Diego Programs on COVID-19 Pause, Postpone Two Games

San Diego State's games against New Mexico and UNLV have been postponed

This story has been updated to reflect the Aztecs' January 18 game against UNLV has also been postponed.

At this point, it appears that for every college basketball program in the country a COVID-19 pause is only a matter of time.

This week it's the Aztecs' turn.

The Mountain West Conference announced Tuesday that Saturday's game at New Mexico has been postponed due to concerns within Brian Dutcher's program. Their Jan. 18 tilt against UNLV was also postponed Wednesday.

These are the fourth and fifth conference games impacted by the pandemic, but until this week the COVID-19 concerns originated in opponent locker rooms.

Dutcher told reporters Monday that his team tested that day and expected results by Tuesday.

The NCAA allows teams to play as long as they have seven players and one coach. An SDSU spokesperson confirmed to NBC 7 that the Aztecs are currently short of that number due to individuals testing positive or being placed in contact tracing.

The Mountain West has now had 18 men's basketball conference games impacted in some way this season by the pandemic.

Other San Diego programs are dealing with COVID-19 cases. UC San Diego is also in its first pause, and Monday canceled Tuesday night's visit to UC Irvine. They still hope to visit Hawaii Saturday.

Point Loma Nazarene also hadn't had to take a break this season until this week. Matt Logie's team played two games in the Bay Area over the weekend. The tests they took Monday revealed multiple positives on their roster.

"We literally did everything you could possible do to avoid this scenario and then we came back and had multiple cases," Logie said. "You do the best you can but at some point in time you're almost bound to get hit."

San Diego had its first two WCC games postponed because of COVID-19 cases. Sam Scholl's team returned to action Saturday and beat Pepperdine on the road Tuesday night.

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