It’s a little wet in here: Roof leak causes hour-plus delay in C-USA title game

College basketball experienced its own version of a rain delay on Saturday.

The Conference USA men’s basketball conference championship game between Jacksonville State and Liberty was delayed due to a leak in the ceiling of the roof at Von Braun Center. It’s believed that the leak was caused by storms in the Huntsville, Alabama, area on Saturday, pushing back the 8:30 p.m. ET tip to 9:36 p.m. ET.

Water fell from the roof of the ceiling onto the court near the scorer’s table during warmups. Initially, towels were used to help clean up the mess on the court before stadium workers wiped the residue off.

But there was still water leaking from the ceiling well after the game was supposed to begin. Other arena workers made their way up the rafters at the Von Braun Center, placing multiple tarps under the area of the leak, according to reporters on site. 

The decision to delay the start of Saturday’s game came moments before tip-off, with players on each team lining up to get the game going. Jacksonville State head coach Ray Harper was the first to point out that water was falling from the ceiling, notifying the officials as liquid continued to fall every 30 seconds, according to AL.com.

The C-USA title game is obviously one of importance. In addition to winning the conference crown, the winner will go to the NCAA Tournament while the loser will almost certainly see its March Madness dreams end. 

Liberty, who won the C-USA regular-season title and is 27-6 entering Saturday, is seeking to win its seventh conference tournament in program history, but its first conference tournament since becoming a C-USA member in the 2023-24 season. It last made the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

Jacksonville State, meanwhile, finished second in conference play during the regular season and enters the championship game with a 22-11 record. It’s also seeking its first conference tournament title since joining C-USA in the 2023-24 season. It’s won two conference tournaments at the Division I level, last claiming the Atlantic Sun Tournament in 2022 to make the NCAA Tournament.

Liberty was slated to be a No. 13 seed and the sole representative of C-USA in Michael DeCourcy’s most recent bracket projection.

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