Fans celebrate Virginia's NCAA championship into the early hours in Charlottesville

While the Virginia Cavaliers celebrated their first men's basketball championship in Minneapolis on Monday night, the party back in Charlottesville, Virginia was just getting started.

At the end of Virginia's 85-77 overtime win over Texas Tech, fans who had watched the game on the jumbotron at John Paul Jones Arena rushed the court even though their team was more than 1,000 miles away. Students flooded "The Corner" — a popular gathering spot near campus — in celebration. The chants of "U-V-A" continued to ring out into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Video circulated on social media of a couch set ablaze.

Several streets near the university were closed late Monday in preparation for the celebration, and multiple local law enforcement agencies spent early Tuesday monitoring the area.

A Charlottesville Police Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email inquiry Tuesday morning about whether any arrests were made in conjunction with the celebration.

While the initial euphoria has passed, Virginia announced that national championship merchandise would be available at the team store at John Paul Jones Arena beginning at 10 a.m. The Cavaliers were expected to return to Charlottesville at 4:45 p.m. And another celebration has been planned for Saturday afternoon, at the Cavaliers' football stadium.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.