COVID-19 affected flow for both Gophers and Illinois ahead of big hoops matchup

Ben Johnson and Brad Underwood were like college basketball coaches everywhere this season, hoping the worst of COVID-19 impacting their game was behind them.

But the Gophers and Illinois were among hundreds of Division I teams with games already canceled and postponed, including their Big Ten matchup moved from Sunday to Tuesday at Williams Arena.

Coaches and players are now used to dealing with shutdowns, quarantines and protocols, but that doesn't make the challenge any easier.

"I think they understand in today's day and age, you got to be able to adapt, to move on and adjust," said Johnson, who has considered adding a nonconference game to the U's schedule.

The Gophers (10-1, 1-1 in the Big Ten) were disappointed not to be able to finish the nonconference season last month, but they've been able to avoid a virus outbreak so far. Meanwhile, the Illini (9-3, 2-0) had 10 players out recently due to health and safety protocols.

"In some ways, it doesn't seem a lot different from last year with some of the COVID stuff that obviously is a very hot topic and understandable," Underwood said Monday. "To say we're at our peak [performance] would probably be stating something that's not true, being off that long."

More than 60 college men's basketball teams went through COVID-19 pauses in December, including Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers from the Big Ten.

Johnson's squad built up momentum last month, responding to his first loss Dec. 8 against Michigan State with three straight victories, most notably the Dec. 11 upset at Michigan for Johnson's first Big Ten coaching win.

But the Gophers didn't reschedule the Dec. 29 game against Alcorn State when their opponent had COVID-19 issues, so their last game was a 72-56 win Dec. 22 against Green Bay. Minnesota finished 9-0 in nonconference for the second straight season.

Johnson said the Gophers stuck to their same practice routine with the exception of only one extra day off during the Christmas break. He told his assistants to not travel outside the state for recruiting for a couple weeks to minimize virus exposure.

"When you're healthy, you want to play as many games as you can," he said. "We're full go, but we learned with [Alcorn State] legitimately you don't really know until the day of. If someone wakes up in the morning and has an issue [they] have to get tested."

Illinois wasn't able to practice until recently, but Underwood said Monday he should have his full team available against the Gophers, including 7-foot All-America Kofi Cockburn.

Underwood also said the Illini are following CDC guidelines, which say COVID-positive individuals with no symptoms should isolate for five days, followed by five days of mask-wearing around others.

The Big Ten was the last of the major conferences to change its policy to having no automatic forfeits for missed games due to COVID-19, while also requiring teams to have at least seven players and a coach available to play.

"Obviously the Big Ten and their involvement and not having forfeits was fantastic as we got an opportunity to reschedule," Underwood said.

Gophers players are fully vaccinated and received their boosters, but Johnson said it "gets tricky" with other Big Ten schools in states with different guidelines.

"That will be the next continuing discussion," Johnson said. "Here's where Minnesota stands, here's where Michigan stands, here's where Ohio stands, here's where Indiana stands. That piece is kind of a work in progress."

When Johnson was an Xavier assistant last season, his team had 11 games either canceled or postponed due to COVID-19.

A week off proved to be detrimental to the Gophers under Richard Pitino last season as well. They were ranked No. 17 in the country after upsetting Michigan, but had a game postponed when Nebraska went on pause.

By the time the Gophers played again, they lost three straight games, including by 14 points to Maryland at home in the first game back. Injuries also contributed to them losing 11 of their last 14 games.

Johnson has preached to his team to remain diligent with protocols, but the Gophers aren't worried they're rusty with the extra time off.

"We came back still motivated," said sophomore Jamison Battle, who leads the Gophers in scoring. "We're doing the same things. We always shoot in practice and go over the offensive and defensive principles. We're ready to go for [Tuesday] and we're sharp."