“It was busy,” Johnson said. “Luckily we didn’t have anything serious happen. … For the most part the students did a nice job enjoying themselves.”

Although many students Thursday cited the warm weather a bonus to being outside, Johnson said a brief rain shower before the game led to the breakup of some outdoor parties.

The 31 people arrested by the East Lansing Police Department is similar to last year when about 30 people were arrested and about 130 citations were issued.

East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said he saw a difference in the level of incapacitated students compared to St. Paddy’s celebrations five or 10 years ago.

“If you measure it by progress, we’re doing better than we once did,” Staton said. “But we’d like to see fewer people drink (to the point of incapacitation).”

Staton said the lack of increase because of the NCAA game was not surprising as earlier tournament games tend to attract less excitement compared to those played later in the tournament. He also said because students partied throughout Thursday, they had less energy in the evening.

“We have experienced nighttime football games when people have a chance to tailgate all day long,” Staton said. “The crowd after a day of celebrations tends to wear down a little bit. That’s relatively true on Thursday too.”

The East Lansing Police Department treated Thursday as if it was a normal St. Patrick’s Day without the NCAA game, Johnson said. All officers in the department were in uniform on Thursday to patrol the streets in anticipation for the busier day.

Apparel and textile junior Leah Ferguson said she thought Thursday was no different from past St. Patrick’s Days she had celebrated at MSU.

“We always have nice weather — my freshman year it was 80 degrees and sunny” Ferguson said. “(This year) was exactly the same.”