NCAA Tournament 2021: Sooner guard De'Vion Harmon out for game against Missouri with COVID-19

Oklahoma sophomore guard De'Vion Harmon will not play against Missouri on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament, coach Lon Kruger announced Wednesday.

Lon Kruger just announced that De'Vion Harmon tested positive for COVID-19, and won't get to play on Saturday.Tough blow.#Sooners

— Austin Curtright (@AustinCurtright) March 17, 2021

Harmon, an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention this season, is averaging 12.9 points and 2.1 assists per game. The 6-foot-2 guard is second on the team in average minutes played. Kruger confirmed Harmon would be the only player out for OU. 

"Players have this as a goal, to play in the NCAA Tournament," Kruger said. "It's so sad for De'Vion. Just heartbroken that he's not going to have that opportunity this first weekend."

Harmon is in quarantine but hasn't had any symptoms yet, according to Kruger. He tested positive the day they landed in Indiana, on Monday evening. Kruger said "you'd assume that" Harmon would be back in the next round, likely against No. 1 overall seeded Gonzaga.

"It definitely hurts," senior guard Austin Reaves said. "De'Vion's a really good player with a lot of talent and helps us in a lot of different aspects. ... This is the way we live now. We've been affected by it a couple times and you really just got to keep moving forward."

Harmon made a big improvement from his freshman year, shooting over 47 percent as a sophomore opposed to under 37 percent last season. He averaged 7.4 points per game as a freshman. 

Oklahoma plays Missouri at 6:25 p.m. CT on March 20 in Indianapolis on TNT.