Penn State-Minnesota men's basketball game postponed due to COVID-19 issues within Gophers

The Penn State Nittany Lions will not be hosting the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Bryce Jordan Center for a men's college basketball tilt on Wednesday evening as originally planned. 

Both Penn State and Minnesota confirmed Tuesday that Wednesday's matchup has been postponed because of COVID-19 issues impacting the Golden Gophers. Per the Minnesota release, the Golden Gophers were without four players for Sunday's 81-71 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes because of coronavirus-related protocols and injury setbacks. Additional COVID-19 testing left Minnesota with fewer than seven scholarship players available, meaning the Golden Gophers couldn't meet Big Ten guidelines for roster minimums ahead of Wednesday. 

The schools intend to work with the Big Ten on rescheduling the game for some point later this winter. 

As Daniel Gallen noted for PennLive, the Nittany Lions had three non-conference games in December canceled because of positive COVID-19 test results within their program. They fell to 8-7 overall under first-year coach Micah Shrewsberry via Sunday's 61-56 defeat at the Ohio State Buckeyes and will next play at Iowa this coming Saturday. 

Meanwhile, the 10-5 Golden Gophers will hope to host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday afternoon.