Connecticut’s second straight NCAA males’s basketball title got here with out the rioting and destruction that punctuated the Huskies’ 2023 championship when the Storrs campus suffered $550,000 in damages as 25 college students, 10 school members, and 10 others have been arrested.
In what may very well be seen as an indication of maturity, there have been solely 5 arrests this yr. And quite than lighting fires, flipping automobiles, and repurposing felled mild poles as battering rams, the UConn college students shunned any main destruction amid a heavy police presence.
‘Hundreds of UConn college students and others on the Storrs campus celebrated a tremendous Husky victory this night and the overwhelming majority did so respectfully, responsibly, and safely,’ learn a press release from UConn officers.
‘There have been some incidents of vandalism following the victory, however they have been restricted in quantity.
‘On the entire, it was an excellent evening on the Storrs campus and the college appears to be like ahead to persevering with to have fun our phenomenal student-athletes, their coaches, and this unimaginable win.’
The group gathered exterior Gampel Pavilion had simply watched UConn’s victory over Purdue
Throngs of UConn followers are seen pouring out onto the Storrs, Connecticut campus on Monday
A watch half was held Monday at Gampel Pavilion, the place Huskies followers watched Danny Hurley’s Huskies seize the 2024 title with a 75-60 win over Zach Edey and Purdue.
The win got here three days after the Connecticut girls have been bounced from the Last 4 by Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
However even with just one championship to have fun in Storrs, police have been nicely ready to deal with any overexuberance from the gang exterior Gampel Pavilion on Monday evening.
Fireworks have been heard instantly after the win, in accordance with NewsTimes.com, which reported that officers managed to maintain college students off buildings and different fixtures.
The College of Connecticut is eradicating aluminum mild poles from its essential campus pathway
In 2023, college students used a fallen lamppost as a battering ram to interrupt right into a campus constructing
UConn followers climbed lampposts and pulled them down on campus after the crew’s 2023 win
The varsity additionally pre-emptively took down mild poles, thereby conserving followers’ toes firmly on the campus grounds on Monday.
Maybe most significantly, alcohol was no served at Monday’s watch half at Gampel Pavilion, which can have helped police keep a safer ambiance on campus.
Regardless of the security measures, college students nonetheless managed to get pleasure from themselves.
‘It is only a as soon as in a lifetime expertise, however we did it twice. Again-to-back!’ Jenessa Perez, a junior, instructed NBC Connecticut.
‘Positively final yr it was chaotic I might say, however this yr it’s extremely extra mellow,’ Perez continued. ‘The safety, the cops, they’re right here. They’re conscious, and ensuring everybody’s protected. So I like that.’
