The Connecticut men’s basketball team topped Kentucky 60-54 on Monday to complete its improbable run to the NCAA national championship, and — as expected — the town of Storrs, Conn., responded by going absolutely bananas.
Thousands of students took to the campus streets after the final buzzer, with the celebration quickly morphing into a full-blown riot that included fireworks, car flipping and a good deal of property damage — including one group of fans using a street light to smash a window of an academic building.
Campus police had reported 30 arrests as of 1:30 a.m., according to university spokesman Tom Breen, and more were expected to come later.
“A lot of it was alcohol-related,” Breen said, via CBS Connecticut. “There was breech of peace, destruction of property, and we had a fireworks charge.”
But despite the bedlam, there were no reported injuries, and UConn police chief Barbara O’Connor said she actually was pleased with the way the campus handled its second national championship in four years.
“By far, most of our students have conducted themselves safely and responsibly,” O’Connor said, via the Hartford Courant. “Although there have been some arrests and property damage, we’re pleased overall with most of our students’ behavior, especially considering we had a capacity crowd of over 10,000 in Gampel Pavilion and thousands more elsewhere on campus.”
Kentucky fans responded in a similar fashion, as the Wildcat faithful rioted as well.
Check out the scene in Storrs in the photos and videos below.
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Photo of the day
Go crazy, Shabazz.
Photo via Twitter/@SInow
Tweet of the day
Here’s how the Connecticut newspapers commemorated the Huskies’ win.
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Video of the day
Until next year…
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