Sixty arrested after MSU loss

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Police in riot gear dispersed rowdy Michigan State fans who poured into the streets following their team’s loss in the Final Four, resulting in more than 60 arrests.

Most of the arrests were for disorderly conduct, police said Sunday.

The fans had gathered downtown and outside nearby apartment complexes after Michigan State lost 87-71 to North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals Saturday night.

At a news conference Sunday, authorities described the crowds as tamer than in past years.

“If you look at where we’d been and where we are (now), we have made considerable progress,” Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon said. “There are a lot of things that didn’t happen.”

In 1999, after Michigan State lost to Duke in the semifinals, more than 10,000 people ran through downtown East Lansing, overturning cars, setting fires and smashing storefronts. Police responded with tear gas and arrested 132 people, including 71 Michigan State students.

Eighteen people were arrested following a disturbance during the 2003 NCAA men’s tournament.