Men’s Cat-Griz basketball games canceled

MISSOULA — Rivalry Week has been cut by half with the news that the two-game men’s basketball series between Montana and Montana State are canceled because of a positive COVID-19 test within the UM program.

The women’s games between the Lady Griz and Bobcats are not affected, with the teams set to battle in Bozeman Thursday (5 p.m.) and Missoula Saturday (noon).

Montana’s sports information confirmed the news with a short release sent out at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The men’s teams were supposed to play Thursday in Missoula and Bozeman Saturday.

The Big Sky Conference’s COVID-19 policy is that canceled games will not be made up, though there have been reports that rescheduling at least one of the games is being discussed.

The “Brawl of the Wild” series dates back to 1902 and has been played every season since 1960. The 301 meetings make the series the fifth-most played rivalry in college basketball.

UM’s release noted that entering this week, Montana was one of seven teams nationally that had not had a game altered due to COVID-19.

Before the season Montana men’s coach Travis DeCuire was only cautiously optimistic about completing the 13 games NCAA mandated for a team to be postseason-eligible. Currently Montana is 7-8, 3-5 in Big Sky games. MSU sits atop the league at 9-3, 6-0.