6News Story

Mass. celebration under way

Originally published 07:08 p.m., March 30, 2008
Updated 10:21 p.m., March 30, 2008

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KU Fan Photos from Lawrence

And then there were four.

Massachusetts Street turned into a tangle of triumph after Kansas University's Elite Eight victory over Davidson, sending the Jayhawks to the Final Four for the first time since 2003.

Thousands of people poured out of bars and descended upon downtown, clogging Massachusetts Street as circles of jubilant fans mobbed each other, exchanged high fives and hugged total strangers. Police blocked off Massachusetts Street between 9th and 11th streets to accommodate the makeshift street party.

"Elation. Relief. I'm ecstatic for Bill Self. He's worked real hard. The seniors have worked real hard," said Overland Park resident Beatty Suiter, who described his feelings after watching the game at Buffalo Wild Wings, 1012 Mass.

KU student Maggie Lang, 21, watched the chaos that developed on Massachusetts Street, between 9th and 11th streets, where fans chanted "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk," and lifted everything from KU garbage cans to their fellow fans in celebration.

"I was shaking during the end," she said. "I really thought (Davidson star) Stephen Curry was going to make a three in the last 16 seconds. I was terrified."

Erin Cook, a KU junior from Lenexa, also worried KU wouldn't hold on to their lead.

"I was just weak at the end of the game," she said. "I collapsed and then ran around and hugged my friends."

The throng of fans paralyzed traffic on Massachusetts Street, and at least one woman was hit by a car.

KU plays North Carolina in the Final Four Saturday in San Antonio.

Tip-off is planned for 7:47 local time.

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Need a faster connection? Sunflower High Speed Internet, a division of Sunflower Broadband, provides residents and businesses of Lawrence, Eudora, Tonganoxie, Basehor and parts of Douglas and Leavenworth counties with high-speed Internet access through the local cable system.

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