Oklahoma State-Oklahoma men's basketball game postponed due to COVID-19

Saturday's rivalry men's basketball showdown between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Oklahoma Sooners is off. 

Jacob Unruh of The Oklahoman was the first to report that the matchup has been postponed because of a positive COVID-19 test result and subsequent contact tracing impacting the Cowboys. Unruh added that the Oklahoma State program is going on pause because of the coronavirus-related issues.  

According to Unruh, Oklahoma forwards Brady Manek and Jalen Hill missed the past two games because of COVID-19 issues. Manek likely was out through at least Saturday, but it was hoped Hill could play against Oklahoma State. 

Both schools confirmed Unruh's report on Friday afternoon.

"The well-being of the young men in our program has always been and will continue to be the most important thing to me, my staff and our administration," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton said in a prepared statement. "We've been very fortunate to play the games we've played thus far, and we will await the advice of our medical staff before making any decisions on a return to team activities."

Oklahoma State is coming off an upset victory over the No. 6-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday that improved the Cowboys to 9-3 on the season. The West Virginia Mountaineers confirmed on Monday that they can't play against Oklahoma State this coming Tuesday, as scheduled, because of COVID-19 setbacks. The Cowboys may now be off until they face the No. 2-ranked Baylor Bears on Jan. 23. 

Oklahoma improved to 7-4 overall with an 82-46 win over the TCU Horned Frogs on Tuesday. The Sooners are set to host the Kansas State Wildcats this coming Tuesday.