The Big Ten has announced the cancellation of the league's men's basketball tournament due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, the league announced Thursday morning.

"The Big Ten Conference announced today that it will be canceling the remainder of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, effective immediately," the league said in a prepared statement. "The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus."

The league had already announced Wednesday evening that games that were scheduled to begin March 12 would no longer be played in front of fans, with attendance being limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams only. Instead, the decision was made to scrap the tournament altogether less than a half hour before the first game was set to tipoff on Thursday.

The Terps, who were league co-champions and the No. 3 seed in the tournament, were to leave for Indianapolis Thursday afternoon and were slated to play in the quarterfinals Friday evening.

"I understand and respect the conference's decision to cancel this year's Big Ten Tournament," Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement. "The health and safety of our student-athletes and entire program is paramount. This is an unprecedented situation that is much bigger than basketball. I remain hopeful that a resolution will be found to provide our student-athletes with the opportunity to complete their season."

Maryland was projected as a likely No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament but the likelihood that those games go on now appears very much in doubt. NCAA President Mark Emmert announced Wednesday afternoon that the NCAA Tournament, like the the Big Ten tournament, would also be played with no fans in the stands and that they would begin to search for a new, smaller Final Four venue.

The tipping point for cancelling tournaments altogether seemed to be the suspension of the NBA season after Utah Jazz All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. Since then, Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell has also reportedly tested positive for the virus.

The Ivy League was the first conference to cancel both their men's and women's tournaments on Wednesday. The AAC then followed suit, cancelling its tournament early Thursday just minutes before the Big Ten announced its decision. The ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and more have all since announced the cancellation of their league tournaments.