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USC basketball pausing team activities following positive coronavirus test

USC coach Andy Enfield, top, speaks with Evan Mobley during a game against Brigham Young on Dec. 1.
USC coach Andy Enfield, top, speaks with Evan Mobley during a game against Brigham Young on Dec. 1. The Trojans’ scheduled season opener against Stanford on Sunday has been postponed because of a positive coronavirus test.
(Jessica Hill / Associated Press)
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A confirmed case of COVID-19 has caused USC’s men’s basketball program to pause team activities and forced the team’s Sunday night Pac-12 opener against Stanford to be postponed, according to a university statement released less than three hours before the game was scheduled to tip off at the Galen Center.

The statement did not disclose who had tested positive, but did note that the individual “was identified prior to contact with anyone expected to participate in tonight’s game.”

“USC Student Health and the USC athletic medicine staff will conduct contact tracing,” the statement said, later adding: “The individual who tested positive has been isolated. The Pac-12 Conference has been alerted.”

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USC’s 2020 reputation for comebacks hit its high mark for the season Saturday in the Trojans’ gutsy 43-38 victory over crosstown rival UCLA.

Dec. 12, 2020

The conference will now work with both schools to attempt to find a date to reschedule the contest. The status of USC’s next two games — a home meeting with San Francisco scheduled for Wednesday and road trip to Oregon State on Dec. 20 — remains unclear, with the school stating that additional information will be provided at a later time.

Sunday’s game at the Galen Center was supposed to be the first of a 20-game conference slate for the Trojans, who have begun the season 4-1.

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