UNI vs. Drake MVC men’s basketball tournament game canceled due to COVID-19

ST. LOUIS - More than two hours after the scheduled tip-off time for Northern Iowa's Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament quarterfinal game against Drake on Friday, league officials in conjunction with UNI released a statement regarding its cancellation due to COVID-19 protocols.

'The Missouri Valley Conference has cancelled the third quarterfinal game of the 2021 State Farm MVC Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test result (and subsequent contact tracing) among the University of Northern Iowa's Tier I personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff. As a result, Drake - UNI's scheduled opponent - will advance to Saturday's semifinals and will play the winner of the Missouri State-Valparaiso game, which will be played at 8 p.m. tonight as originally scheduled.

'Each MVC program is required to undergo daily COVID-19 testing for the week preceding and throughout Arch Madness. Beginning Wednesday (March 3), Mercy Corporate Health has partnered with the Conference to conduct a nightly PCR test of each team's Tier 1 personnel at Enterprise Center. UNI's positive result was discovered as part of Thursday evening's testing. For the MVC's championship at Enterprise Center, decisions relating to the safe navigation of tournament play are ultimately made by St. Louis City's Board of Health, which includes the implementation of contact tracing guidelines outlined by the CDC and the City of St. Louis. Utilizing the City of St. Louis guidelines, contact tracing revealed that UNI did not have enough available players to compete.”

'UNI and other institutions ultimately relied on Conference policies that have been in place all season and were thought to be applicable here at the tournament. It should be noted UNI followed those procedures during their participation in the event,” said MVC commissioner Doug Elgin.

'However, the City of St. Louis Board of Health Department COVID orders take precedence over MVC protocols, and none of our institutions were aware that this was in place. In all prior communication we had with St. Louis' local health authorities, we had clearly indicated that the MVC adhered to C.D.C. guidelines and NCAA Resocialization Guidelines.

'The MVC did not have the necessary conversations with local health officials to clarify that the administration of the tournament would be governed by St. Louis Health Commissioner's COVID orders.

'I apologize and take full responsibility for not resolving the administration of policies that are in place during this year's tournament.”

After having all its personnel pass its COVID-19 testing prior to Thursday night's opening round win against Illinois State, multiple sources told The Gazette that a UNI player's postgame PCR test returned positive, prompting those close to the situation to believe the test was a false positive.

Sources also told The Gazette that pressure from city and state officials - indicated in the MVC statement as superseding their league policy - ultimately forced the MVC to cancel the game, rather than postpone and wait for additional testing to confirm the postgame test's positive diagnosis.

UNI coach Ben Jacobson confirmed to The Gazette late Friday that the Tier 1 personnel member who tested positive had not previously had COVID-19 and that was ultimately the difference between UNI's situation and Bradley's - who played Thursday night after a positive test came back on a player who had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 and was within the 150-day window of presumed immunity.

When it comes to the MVC's miscommunication with the St. Louis Board of Health, Jacobson admitted learning about it was frustrating.

'That hurt and added to the frustration. Certainly added to the disappointment,” Jacobson said. 'I wish I could tell you that it didn't. There's no other way for me to say it than it just makes it even harder that that didn't get taken care of on the front side.”

Jacobson explained that his team wearing masks did not override the contact tracing relayed by their Kinexon bracelets per the St. Louis Board of Health's protocols. He also said that after the positive test he needed to make a couple phone calls Saturday morning before commenting on any follow-up testing to prove a false positive of Thursday night's positive result.

With an unfortunate ending capping off a season filled with adversity, Jacobson described the message he gave the team after they learned their fate.

'The first was just really, really hurting for them,” Jacobson said. 'This has been a long year for everybody, so we're not asking anyone to feel differently in that sense. But what I talked to the guys about was how much progress we have made as a group. There was plenty of detours and bumps in the road. They found their way through it and got to the point where we have played our best basketball the last two weeks. So, we're going into today's game with a ton of confidence they have earned. That's what made it the hardest for me.”