Michigan State starters huddle up before their game against Western Michigan. The Spartans came back in the second half to end the game against the Broncos 79-61 on Dec. 6, 2020.
—Joshua Langford was in his hotel room in Charlottesville, Virginia, mentally preparing for game time Tuesday night.
His team had flown to Virginia, practiced and concluded the day with a team dinner. They departed for their rooms, planning to see each other the next morning prior to their ACC/Big Ten matchup.
That was until 11:15 p.m. came.
Langford and his teammates were called into a team meeting, an unusually late one at that. Then Head Coach Tom Izzo informed the team that a positive COVID-19 test in the Virginia program would postpone their matchup that was set to tip off less than 24 hours later.
“Everybody was looking forward to playing Virginia," Izzo said to reporters Friday. "There’s no secret about it. Not only Joey (Hauser) but all of us were, and as a coaching staff we were just to see where we’re at, which is really important.”
The game was more than the second top-25 matchup for the Spartans this season.
It was a family affair for redshirt junior Joey Hauser who would face brother Sam Hauser on the court for the Cavaliers. The pair transferred from Marquette after the 2018-19 season and sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules.
Hauser expected to play against his big brother with some of their family watching from the stands until the game was called off.
“I’m really looking forward to this game,” Hauser said on Tuesday afternoon before the team had departed for Virginia. “I want to prepare and study as much as I can because this is a game I really want to win obviously against my older brother.”
The postponement took a mental toll on all players though, not just Hauser. With the announcement, the preparation, the scouting reports and film analysis that had begun almost immediately after the Spartans defeated Western Michigan on Dec. 6 had suddenly seemed useless.
“It definitely was tough because you put all the time in to prepare for the game, and it’s not just the time physically but also the time mentally,” Langford said on Friday. “You get yourself in a certain mindset, and so once they told us that we weren’t going to be able to play anymore it was a letdown.”
Izzo said that he would like to reschedule a game with the Cavaliers, but that becomes complicated as the Virginia program remains in quarantine and both teams begin conference play in the approaching weeks. Instead, Izzo hopes the Spartans can schedule another non-conference opponent for the upcoming week.
“We’ve adjusted," Izzo said. "We got back. We practiced almost immediately because a day of travel counts as a day on, so we practiced then and gave them yesterday (Thursday) off, which was great,” Izzo said. “... They know that things can happen that we have no control over, so control the things we can control, and that’s kind of the approach we’ve taken.”
It’s a phrase that Izzo is pushing his team to live by this season, “adapt and overcome,” and it's one Langford found hope in after the situation as well.
“Like we’ve been saying this whole year, this season, this year is definitely not the normal year that we’re used to,” Langford said. “So, we have to able to continue to adjust and just keep moving forward.”
For now, the Spartans are scheduled to host Oakland at noon on Dec. 13.
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