Fans evacuated during second half of Indiana vs. Wisconsin

The stands were evacuated during the second half of Tuesday night’s game between Wisconsin and Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. It led to a roughly 20-minute delay.

At the time of the evacuation, Wisconsin and Indiana were tied at 54-54 with 10:06 remaining in the game. Alarms were going off inside the building, and the Peacock broadcast reported some possible inclement weather in the area.

Indiana Basketball said the evacuation was due to fire alarms going off inside the building.

The game has been delayed due to the fire alarms going off inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Please evacuate if you are inside the building. We will provide further updates when available.

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) February 28, 2024

“The game has been delayed due to the fire alarms going off inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall,” the post read. “Please evacuate if you are inside the building. We will provide further updates when available.”

Wisconsin play-by-play announcer Matt Lepay cited smoke in an elevator as a reason for the delay. Indiana later released a statement saying the alarm came from a balcony inside Assembly Hall.

“It was determined a fire alarm went off in the balcony,” the university said. “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.”

After a roughly 11-minute evacuation, everyone was allowed back in the building, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus. Play eventually resumed after a five-minute warm-up period for both teams.

Indiana led by as many as 15 points in the first half on Tuesday night, but Wisconsin came all the way back to tie things up just prior to the delay. The Badgers won the first matchup against the Hoosiers last month, 91-79, as part of a red-hot start to the season.

Recently, though, it’s been a rough go for Wisconsin. After starting Big Ten play 8-1, the Badgers have dropped five of their last seven games. Most recently, they came away with a victory over Maryland before a weekend off and received votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll earlier this week.

As for Indiana, the Hoosiers have had a rough go through Mike Woodson’s second conference schedule as head coach. IU entered Tuesday with a 6-10 record in conference play and four consecutive losses to its name.

Indiana went on to get the 74-70 victory, holding Wisconsin scoreless for the final 2:06 to come away with its seventh conference win of the year. Kel’El Ware led the charge for the Hoosiers with a game-high 27 points on 11-for-12 shooting.