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After returning from a three-game road trip, Syracuse will have to wait to play its next two games due to COVID-19 protocols. The Orange’s games against Lehigh on Dec. 18 and Cornell on Dec. 21 have been postponed. Several SU players have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, syracuse.com reported. 

Syracuse (5-5, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) is coming off a loss to Georgetown that dropped the Orange to .500 on the season. The Cornell game was already in doubt as its campus was moved to alert level red due to the presence of the omicron variant in Ithaca. Syracuse Athletics said they are evaluating whether or not these two games can be made up later in the season.

Cornell canceled all of its in-person activities last week, including its December graduation, and moved final exams to a virtual format. The Big Red also canceled their game against Bryant, which they would’ve played this weekend.

The Orange are also experiencing a rise in COVID-19 cases on campus. There have been 63 new student cases since Dec. 16 according to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard. Syracuse also shifted all university-sanctioned extracurricular events to a virtual format. However, tomorrow’s women’s basketball game against UMBC will continue as scheduled, the SU press release said. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present challenges for intercollegiate athletics all over the country,” Director of Athletics John Wildhack said in a statement. “Our top priority is safeguarding the health and well-being of our student-athletes, athletics staff, fans and the campus and central New York communities. While it is disappointing to have to postpone any athletic event, this is the right decision given the increasingly difficult public health landscape.”

Head coach Jim Boeheim and his team will now return to the court against Georgia Tech on Dec. 29 in a return to ACC play. The Orange will look to break a two-game skid with the extra week of preparation they now have barring the postponed games being played before then.