Men’s basketball’s 2020-21 season opener at Miami (Ohio) canceled

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The 2020-21 season opener for the Defiance College men's basketball team, scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m., has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns. Defiance was slated to play the NCAA Division I Miami University RedHawks in Oxford, Ohio, in a game to be broadcast live on ESPN3. The contest will not be rescheduled.

The Yellow Jackets and Miami have met just twice since DC started playing basketball in 1905, with those games coming during the 1947-48 and 1948-49 campaigns. The RedHawks, who are off to a 1-0 start this season, lead the all-time series with Defiance, 2-0, with wins in Oxford on Dec. 4, 1947 (72-40) and Dec. 7, 1948 (75-32).  

Monday's contest would have been the Yellow Jackets' first non-exhibition game against a Division I opponent since losing at Oakland University, 87-66, on Dec. 27, 2013. Since then, DC has played three exhibitions versus Division I teams, the last coming at Ball State University on Nov. 5, 2019.

Up next on Defiance's tentative schedule is a trip to Division I Bowling Green State University, the favorite to win the Mid-American Conference championship in a preseason coaches poll, on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.