Hey you were in the building morons what do you know. Someone saw on TV!
You know what I saw on TV? The deteriorating roof. It is no longer just pock marked. Whole triangles are ripping from the ceiling. It may still be structurally sound (barely), but aesthetically, it's quite displeasing to the eye.
As far as in-arena attendance goes, it is getting less and less important. A more important number is the overnight TV ratings. Obviously, the school and onlooking conferences don't want to see a half filled arena, but as long as the game is not blacked out, they will give some leeway because people are watching at home, which means more advertising revenue for a conference network. It's an ongoing battle, but with the affordability of 50+" HD TV's and cheap store bought food, it makes almost zero sense to go up to Hartford or Storrs deal with traffic, parking, $9 Miller Lite that tastes funny (at HCC) and sit 150 ft. from the nearest corner of the court.
Officially, Gampel was over 90% filled (9,195), which is probably a better representation of total tickets distributed.
Better question...Why was the game scheduled for early Sunday Afternoon during the NFL season?