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UPDATED: Dec. 3, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

One member of Syracuse’s men’s basketball team tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Thursday’s game against Niagara, SU Athletics announced in a release. An undisclosed number of program members will miss the Orange’s game due to contact tracing protocols, too.

Syracuse’s game will still be played against the Purple Eagles, who returned from a COVID-19 pause on Sunday.

Buddy Boeheim did not test positive for COVID-19, but he won’t play because he was part of the contact tracing group, according to Mike Waters of Syracuse.com. Syracuse is tested for COVID-19 three times a week during the season.

Thursday marks the second time since the team returned that it’s dealt with positive COVID-19 cases within the program. The latest positive test dates back to a round of testing taken last week.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim and one other member of the program tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago, and the program went on a two-week pause. Players stayed in their apartments, conducting workouts via Zoom sessions and stationary bikes. They returned one day before the Orange’s season-opener against Bryant on Nov. 27, a game Boeheim said postgame and at halftime shouldn’t have been played.

“The problem with this game is I made an unbelievable mistake,” Boeheim said after the 85-84 win. “You cannot play basketball when you don’t practice.”

This story will be updated with more reporting.

Published on December 3, 2020 at 6:48 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew