CINCINNATI (WXIX) — University of Cincinnati students spent the week leading up to the Crosstown Shootout defending the Oscar Robertson statue outside Fifth Third Bank Arena.

FOX 19 NOW spoke with students who slept outside on Friday. They said they have so far thwarted two attempts to place a Xavier basketball jersey on the statue.

The jerseys had been “scraped” and displayed as trophies.

“We try to avoid violence,” explained junior Nathan Troutman. “We have the support of the UC (police). So if there is an escalation, we will definitely support it.”

He explained that every evening they held events and games for other students to participate in while they waited for the sunrise.

There was a three-on-three basketball game on Friday evening.

Troutman said it’s about keeping the traditions alive before a big game.

“The basketball team has a lot of hype,” he said. “We rate our chances tomorrow very well and are therefore doing everything we can to protect them.”

The game starts on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a recent news story? Send it to us here with a short description.

Copyright 2024 WXIX. All rights reserved.