Despite smoke that forced evacuation of McKale Center about an hour after the Wildcats' 81-69 win over California on Saturday, UA police said the arena did not sustain significant damage.
In a post to social media, UAPD said an HVAC unit shorted, blowing smoke into the arena but that no significant damage was reported. UAPD said there were no spectators remaining at the time of the incident though some remaining staff and media had to be evacuated.
UAPD & @TucsonFireDept responded to McKale for a fire alarm. No fire, but an HVAC unit shorted, causing smoke to enter the arena. No damage was reported & TFD cleared the scene. No fans inside McKale at time. Thanks to TFD for their quick response! @uarizona @AZATHLETICS pic.twitter.com/XyeGuSXRxi
— University of Arizona Police (@UArizonaPolice) March 6, 2022
After its season finale win over Cal on Saturday afternoon, Arizona held a long postgame ceremony and cut down the nets to celebrate its Pac-12 regular-season championship.
The top-seeded Wildcats will begin Pac-12 Tournament play Thursday in Las Vegas against either No. 9 seed Stanford or No. 8 seed ASU, who will face each other on Wednesday.
