COVID-19 issues force DePaul to forfeit game against Seton Hall

The Big East announced that Thursday’s scheduled game between No. 15 Seton Hall and host DePaul has been canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Blue Demons’ program.

According to conference policy, DePaul forfeits and is assigned a loss in the league standings. Seton Hall gets credited with a conference win.

It was a reversal of sorts for the Pirates (9-1), who had their previous two scheduled games called off due to their own COVID-19 problems. That included a non-conference matchup with Iona at Madison Square Garden on Saturday and a forfeit of its scheduled Big East opener Monday night against St. John’s.

Seton Hall hasn’t played since beating Rutgers on Dec. 12 and now isn’t slated to return to action until Dec. 29 at No. 22 Providence.

The surprising Blue Demons (9-1) also had a non-conference game canceled Saturday at Northwestern and forfeited their scheduled Big East opener Monday night against Creighton. They haven’t played since beating UIC on Dec. 14, and the hiatus will last until at least Dec. 29 at Butler.