LAWRENCE — Kansas men's basketball will no longer face Harvard on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse, as the Ivy League team announced Sunday the contest had been canceled "due to COVID-19 concerns and safety protocols within" the Crimson program.

This is the second-straight game the Jayhawks (9-1) will have missed due to COVID-19 complications, at least in part, with another squad. Kansas also saw its Dec. 21 matchup at Colorado canceled.

"The Ivy League continues to keep the safety of its student-athletes, staff and greater campus communities at the forefront of its decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic," Harvard's release stated, in part. "Campus policies across the league require student-athletes to be fully vaccinated."

Kansas' release stated, in part: "The Kansas men’s basketball game vs. Harvard scheduled on Wednesday, December 29, has been canceled because of a combination of injuries and positive COVID-19 tests within the Harvard program. The game will not be rescheduled this season."

The Jayhawks' release went on to say that Kansas is currently searching for an opponent to play Wednesday and "fill the cancellation" that's occurred. That release added that every ticket issued for the Harvard (8-4) contest "will automatically be transferred with the details of the new opponent once that is finalized." It appears, then, that Jayhawks fans should still expect to see their team compete this week ahead of its Big 12 Conference opener.

Should Kansas not be able to find another opponent, then its next scheduled game is that Saturday, Jan. 1 matchup against Big 12-foe TCU. The Horned Frogs (10-1) have a game Wednesday against Texas Southern before they travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks. TCU has recent victories against Georgetown, Texas A&M and Utah.

"It's going to screw up the conference season," Kansas head coach Bill Self said after the Colorado game was canceled. "I just hope it doesn't screw it up where it takes away the fans and what makes college basketball so great. Everybody can deal with a week's pause. I just don’t know how it'll be if — reduced capacities and you start doing all the things that we did last year because of what’s transpired."

During an appearance on Hawk Talk the day after the Colorado game was canceled, Jayhawks assistant coach Kurtis Townsend said Kansas' players would report back Sunday and practice that night. The Lawrence Journal-World reported Sunday that Self confirmed that had taken place.

Townsend also said during that Hawk Talk appearance that if something happened to the game against Harvard, that it would give Kansas time to potentially find someone else to play who was also supposed to play that day but had a game canceled, too. He doesn't think, once conference play begins, the Jayhawks will schedule any additional opponents unless more cancellations occur.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.