Play was stopped and fans were evacuated from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall during Indiana’s 74-70 win over Wisconsin on Tuesday after a fire alarm sounded inside the venue. The Hoosiers and Badgers were tied at 54-54 with 10:06 remaining in the Big Ten contest when the game was abruptly paused.
Indiana asked fans to leave after the alarm sounded but reopened the arena minutes later and announced that play would resume after a short warm-up period. The stoppage lasted roughly 15 minutes.
The incident came amid a frustrating season of struggles for the Hoosiers inside their famed home venue. IU had lost five home games, including three straight, entering Tuesday’s contest. The Hoosiers appeared to be sliding toward another home defeat against the Badgers after relinquishing a 15-point lead. Wisconsin (18-10, 10-7 Big Ten) had just tied the game for the first time since it was 0-0 when the alarm sounded.
“I thought it was a great timeout from whoever from Indiana pulled the fire alarm,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
But it would be hard for the Badgers to pin the loss on the game’s disruption. Wisconsin took the lead coming out of the stoppage, and it wasn’t until the game’s final two minutes that Indiana (15-13, 7-10) regained control.
The Hoosiers held Wisconsin to 0 for 6 shooting down the stretch as the Badgers dropped their fifth straight road contest. Kel’el Ware led Indiana with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Wisconsin entered the game as a projected No. 5 seed in Jerry Palm’s NCAA Tournament Bracketology. Indiana entered well outside the at-large picture and ranked No. 107 in the NET after reaching the tournament during each of Mike Woodson’s first two seasons as coach.
