Indiana’s game against Wisconsin was evacuated in the second half after fire alarms sounded inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Building security told fans to leave the building with the game tied at 54 and 10:06 remaining. The alarms could be heard during the game before it was stopped.
Here’s the official statement from IU Athletics on what transpired:
“It was determined a fire alarm went off in the balcony. Emergency management officials stationed in the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Command Center followed state law and evacuated the arena for the safety and well-being of everyone in attendance. Once it was determined there was no immediate threat, everyone was allowed back in the building.”
Indiana coach Mike Woodson thanked the fans who returned to the game following the delay of about 15 minutes.
“First of all, I want to thank our fan base, the crowd for going through what we all went through and still came back into the game and gave us the support we needed to get over the hump and win the game,” Woodson said.
“I truly thank the fans.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been a part of something like that as a player and coach. When you go in the locker room, you’re trying to clean up things going on during the course the game, especially the second half when we got going, and then try to get offensive plays in quickly so they know what we’re doing when we come out to start play again.”
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard suggested the stoppage of play benefitted Indiana.
“I thought it was a great timeout for whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm, for them,” Gard said. “Cause we were making a run.”
Wisconsin continued their run after the break, pulling out to a three-point lead on multiple occasions before Indiana pulled away in the final two minutes.
See also: Three keys, highlights, final stats.
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