Arizona fans pack McKale for crushing Final Four loss | Arizona Wildcats

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – Thousands of University of Arizona fans left McKale Center disappointed Saturday after Michigan thumped Arizona 91-73.

Roughly 9,000 tickets for the watch party sold out in about 9 hours earlier this week as fans hoped to see the Wildcats advance to the National Championship Game for the first time since 2001. However, Arizona fell behind early in the Final Four matchup and never recovered.

Fans began the evening with thunderous cheers and boos. Those News 4 Tucson spoke with were elated to be at the watch party.

“Something feels different about this year than any other year. You know we’re back since 25 years ago, we’re bringing the pressure,” Adrian Olpineda, a Tucson native, said.

Others like Alicia Cramer’s family lined up to go into the gym at around 2 p.m., two and a half hours before the doors opened.

“We got on the line, and I didn’t think we were going to get any of them, and sure enough we were able to get the tickets online,” Cramer told News 4 Tucson. “So I was pretty excited that we got tickets. I was like so worried that we wouldn’t get any, and we got them. I was like ‘Yes, we’re going!'”

Days of anticipation quickly turned to disappointment Saturday night as Michigan took a 16-point lead into halftime, which ballooned to 30 early in the second half. Wildcat fans started heading for the exits of McKale Center during the second half as it became clear Saturday was not the team’s night.

“I expected a tough game, definitely it would probably be our hardest game, which it definitely was,” Theophilus Gates, a U of A Fan, said “But I thought it would be closer than that, not down 20, 20 to 30 points, definitely did not expect that.”

The dream season ended on one of the grandest stages in sports. For Wildcats fans inside McKale, there was both sadness and gratitude for a great season that will long be remembered.

“I think this is one of the most exciting seasons in the last couple of years to be an Arizona basketball fan,” Wildcat fan Kyla Ramon said. They’ve made it a lot farther than they have in years past, and I think just that is something to be proud of.”

Arizona finishes the year 36-3 and a March Madness run that fans won’t soon forget.