Monday night, Nov. 14, was supposed to be a great opportunity for the UNI Panthers men’s basketball team. The Panthers were scheduled to play at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. on Monday night, taking on No. 16 Virginia. However, the realities of the outside world took precedence over basketball, as tragedy struck the Charlottesville and University of Virginia communities.

Sunday night, Nov. 13, around 10:30 p.m., an attack occurred on a bus returning from a class field trip to Washington D.C. The suspected gunman, former Virginia football player Christopher Jones Jr., has been arrested, and three members of the Cavaliers football team were tragically killed. According to University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, the individuals who have passed away are Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. 

Two others are currently hospitalized, one of whom is in critical condition, the other in good condition. Ryan declined to name the two injured individuals. Jones Jr. was arrested a little over 12 hours after the attack, and is now in custody facing three charges of second-degree murder as well as three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.

“This is a message any leader hopes to never to have to send,” Ryan said in a statement released to Virginia’s campus community. “I am devastated that this violence has visited the University of Virginia.”

Classes at Virginia were canceled in the early hours of the morning, while the expected decision to call off the basketball game came a little later in the day. UNI officially announced that the game had been canceled shortly after 11 a.m.

“We are heartbroken for the victims and their families of the tragic shooting last night,” UNI Head Coach Ben Jacobson said via Twitter. “Our team and staff are safe. We will return home this evening. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families as well as the University of Virginia campus community.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the University of Virginia community in the wake of this tragic shooting,” UNI Director of Athletics David Harris said via Twitter. “Our hearts go out to the families of those whose lives were lost as well as those who had loved ones injured. We stand with our colleagues as they mourn and begin to heal.”

It appears that this game has been canceled, not postponed, and therefore will not be made up. Virginia is scheduled to play next on Friday in a neutral site game in Las Vegas, taking on Baylor. A decision as to whether or not they will play has yet to be made.

UNI will return to Cedar Falls with a record of 1-1 after their loss to Richmond on Friday. UNI’s next game is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 21, at 11:30 a.m., taking on San Francisco at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. This game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.