DePaul has postponed its Dec. 3 game against Northern Illinois because the Blue Demons’ medical staff wants to ensure that the team has a period of conditioning before it’s safe to return to competition, the athletic department announced on Monday. 

DePaul had to pause all team activities on Nov. 19 because of positive Covid-19 tests results in its tier one personnel. But the team was able to resume practice this past weekend after being shut down for 10 days. 

“The schedule change was deemed necessary by DePaul Athletics’ medical personnel to ensure a period of conditioning necessary to safely return to competition,” DePaul’s release read. “DePaul Athletics will continue to work with Northern Illinois to reschedule the game later in the season.”

The Blue Demons had to cancel their first three games of the season, Nov. 25, Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, and will now open up their season by traveling to face Iowa State on Dec. 6. Currently, there are no other non-conference games scheduled for DePaul. 

After playing Iowa State on Sunday, the Blue Demons are supposed to begin Big East play on Dec. 11 by going to play Seton Hall. Three days later, DePaul is also on the road with a game against Villanova. 

The Blue Demons will play their first conference home game on Dec. 18 when Xavier visits Wintrust Arena, and then UConn visits Chicago five days later. The remaining Big East schedule will be announced at a later date.