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The Duke basketball program has canceled its remaining non-conference games.
Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski made the announcement in a video statement and cited player safety as a reason to make the decision.
Coach K had previously said that it did not feel right to have teams playing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, Coach K hopes the decision will allow his players more time over the holiday and provide them the flexibility to go home to visit their families.
“Making sure that we’re doing the right thing for our players, just for safety, we’re not going to play any [remaining] nonconference games,” Krzyzewski said in his statement. “We’re not going to try to reschedule. We could try to reschedule three games, but we’re not going to do that. We’re going to play conference and hopefully get to play all of them.
“We’re also going to allow our team to go home for Christmas. These kids need to be with their families for a little bit at least.”
UPDATE: We will forgo our remaining non-conference regular-season games for the 2020-21 season. Next up is Notre Dame next Wednesday in South Bend. pic.twitter.com/z3uSVAXjqe
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 10, 2020
With the game cancellations, Blue Devils players will now have nearly two weeks off between the conference opener against Notre Dame on December 16 and their next game against Pittsburgh on December 29.
Duke is currently 2-2 on the season which marks their worst start in two decades.