Saint Louis University men's basketball pauses, postpones two games

The Saint Louis Billikens began Wednesday holding a 7-1 record and preparing for an evening showdown with the Duquesne Dukes. 

However, that game and Saint Louis' following contest have been postponed due to what the program referred to as multiple positive COVID-19 test results. 

Saint Louis also won't be eligible to play against the UMass Minutemen on Saturday. 

"The Atlantic 10 Conference will announce all changes to the Billikens' upcoming A-10 schedule," the school explained. "Program activities will resume only after all personnel are cleared via the extensive Saint Louis University campus COVID-19 testing procedures and protocols."

Saint Louis remains scheduled to play against the La Salle Explorers on Jan. 6. However, multiple men's and women's programs that previously paused activities remained idle for two weeks. Such a timeline could keep the Billikens out of action through at least the second full weekend of January. 

Saint Louis, winners of the 2019 A-10 men's basketball championship, improved to 7-1 on the campaign with a 62-46 win over the UM Kansas City Roos on Dec. 23. The Billikens have already notched noteworthy victories over the LSU Tigers and NC State Wolfpack of Power Five conferences this season and recently earned 49 Top-25 votes.  

According to Nathan Rubbelke of the St. Louis Business Journal, SLU’s women’s basketball team has halted activities twice since November because of issues related to the coronavirus.