Loyola Marymount announced Saturday its men’s basketball program has paused all team-related activities due to positive cases of COVID-19 and related contact tracing, including canceling a game against USC scheduled for Tuesday.

The Lions’ West Coast Conference opener at Santa Clara scheduled for next Saturday was postponed. LMU will work with the conference and Santa Clara to attempt to reschedule the game.

“Thankful our team is doing fine,” Lions first-season coach Stan Johnson tweeted. “We have a resilient group. These guys have faced a lot over the last 11 months. All they’ve done is respond and rise to the occasion. We know that great success isn’t built on just PLAN A. We will pivot and be back better than before.”

The game against USC was announced Wednesday. LMU (5-3) has not played since Dec. 19, when it defeated Cal Poly, 76-52. The scheduled game against California Baptist Dec. 21 was canceled because of coronavirus issues with the Lancers’ program.

The Lions’ scheduled game against Boise State planned for Dec. 22 was canceled because the Mountain West Conference moved up the start of conference play, including having the Broncos play games Dec. 21 and Dec. 23.

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