THE DAILY WILDCAT Printing the news, sounding the alarm, and raising hell since 1899
DAILYWILDCAT.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014
VOLUME 107 • ISSUE 122
BASKETBALL
Cats’ season ends in Elite Eight BY LUKE DELLA
The Daily Wildcat
JEFF WICK /THE DAILY WILDCAT
FANS, POLICE CLASH REBECCA MARIE SASNETT /THE DAILY WILDCAT
TOP: There was a police presence of nearly 70 Tucson Police Department officers on University Boulevard prior to the clash between crowd members and officers on Saturday night after Arizona’s loss in the Elite Eight. MIDDLE LEFT: A crowd member retrieves a smoke bomb thrown into the street. BOTTOM RIGHT:A student uses his shirt to avoid inhaling pepper spray fumes as TPD officers advance down University Boulevard. REBECCA MARIE SASNETT /THE DAILY WILDCAT
‘They can’t take us all’ Fans refuse to budge against riot police in clash filled with flying beer bottles and pepper spray after overtime basketball loss Saturday night BY JAZMINE FOSTER-HALL The Daily Wildcat
Broken hopes quickly turned to broken beer bottles as unruly fans clashed with riot officers on Saturday evening. Crowds on University Boulevard were forcefully disbanded by Tucson Police Department officers after the Arizona men’s basketball team lost to Wisconsin 64-63 in overtime in the Elite Eight. After fans gathered in the street on Thursday following the Wildcats’ Sweet Sixteen game win, TPD increased its presence on University Boulevard for Saturday. During Saturday’s game, 60 to 70 officers were stationed on University Boulevard, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a TPD spokesman. The officers were in full riot gear by 7:45 p.m., over 20 minutes before the basketball game ended. TPD had 12 police officers
SAVANNAH DOUGLAS/THE DAILY WILDCAT
TWO CROWD MEMBERS walk down University Boulevard as Tucson Police Department officers advance on Saturday night.
stationed on Fourth Avenue in front of O’Malleys Bar and Grill, but fans dispersed in a calm manner and no violence took place, in contrast to the riots following the national championship games in 1997 and 2001. Rachel Eisenstadt, a UA alumna, was on Fourth Avenue at the time the game ended. Eisenstadt said she felt the police presence was excessive. “People are smart enough to know what not to do in situations like this,” Eisenstadt said. The scene on Fourth Avenue was more muted than University Boulevard, which spiraled into chaos when those attempting to leave the bars and restaurants were ordered by police on motorcycles to vacate the area. Fans began gathering in the middle of the street and on the streetcar platform, refusing to leave. Riot police formed a line across
INSIDE
University Boulevard and declared the gathering to be an unlawful assembly. “We gave the dispersal order several times, both in English and Spanish, telling everybody that the street had to be cleared,” Dugan said. “People were still refusing to leave, which at that point becomes a misdemeanor offense.” Police officers were struck by objects thrown by the crowd, which included beer cans, beer bottles and fireworks such as firecrackers and sparklers. Fans also stretched out along the street, shouted obscenities at officers and slammed their fists against street signs, adding a metallic clang to the already loud atmosphere. The line of police responded by firing pepper balls, small balls filled with natural pepper oil, into the crowd. Officers also threw pepper canisters, which dispense pepper spray over a large area, at the front
of the group of people. One crowd member threw one of the pepper canisters administered by officers back at the line of police. Students reacted visibly to the pepper spray, coughing and choking on the fumes, some vomiting on the sidewalks due to the chemical. Dozens of fans and students, including a Daily Wildcat editor, were shot with pepper balls by police, some multiple times. One bystander who was wearing a neck brace was shot with pepper balls once in the arm and four times in the back. Members of the crowd banded together, chanting, “Fuck Wisconsin” and “Fuck the police.” Fans also shouted at each other not to fall back when the officers began to advance. One voice could be heard yelling over the crowd: “They can’t take us all!” Adam Odeh, a second-year
CLASH, 3
See more photos and videos from the University Boulevard clash on page 12 and online.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Arizona junior guard Nick Johnson was called for an offensive charge in the final seconds of overtime in the Wildcats’ Elite Eight game, fans in the Honda Center were speechless. Shocked over what had just happened, opposing Wisconsin fans immediately threw their hands in the air with joy. Arizona fans made the same motion, but in disgust. Arizona head coach Sean Miller was speechless. Lost in a dumbfounded stare, it appeared Miller was near boiling point. “I thought it was a really, really tough call,” Miller said. “I’m going to stop there. I’ve already been fined.” With his now loose tie barely hanging around his tense neck, Miller, as he often does throughout the games, composed himself by straightening his tie and re-tightening the knot. But then Arizona got another chance. After freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s defensive effort to tip the inbound pass off a Badger needed a monitor review, official Tony Greene, who had made the call on the Arizona captain, was again the center of attention. During the review an Arizona fan near the court yelled at Greene: “This better be a make-up call.” Soon after more screams by Wildcat fans were directed at the 55-year-old official. “You’re taking it out of the players’ hands,” yelled another fan. While the two other officials viewed the monitor at the call in question, Greene stood in front of Miller as the fifth year Wildcats coach, still floored from the charging call, relieved some tension by joining in the yelling. Greene, who just over a month ago felt the brunt of Syracuse’s head coach Jim Boeheim’s frustration, found himself in a familiar position. A veteran official who has worked five NCAA Championships, Greene made an identical offensive charging call on the Orange’s C.J. Fair with just 10 seconds left in a tightly contested No. 1 Syracuse versus No. 5 Duke Feb. 22 battle. Following the call, Boeheim hysterically ran on to Coach K Court at Cameron Indoor Stadium to get in Greene’s face and argue the call. He was promptly ejected from the game, and with him, the Orange’s chances of winning. But the charging call made by Greene was not dismissed. It was analyzed by all and brought up again and again by critics. “I just thought that was the worst call of the year, that’s all,” Boeheim said in the
BASKETBALL, 7
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I thought it was a really, really tough call. I’m going to stop there. I’ve already been fined. — Sean Miller, head coach
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