STORRS, Conn. -- Hours after playing in Saturday's victorious football game against Louisville, UConn starting cornerback and expectant father Jasper Howard died after an on-campus stabbing.

Howard, 20, from Miami, was stabbed near the center of the UConn campus early Sunday morning, university police said.

UConn police said an officer on Hillside Road was approached just after 12:30 a.m. and informed of the stabbing. They said officers found Howard and another victim near one another on Hillside Road. Both were taken to Windham Community Memorial Hospital.

Howard was then airlifted to St. Francis Hospital, where he died. The second victim was treated and released from the hospital. That victim's identity has not been released.

The stabbing was reported after a dance at the Student Union with about 300 attendees, both students and non-students, UConn police said. Someone had pulled an alarm and everyone was outside, UConn police Maj. Ron Blicher said.

Police said an argument erupted between two groups of people outside and the stabbing was the result of it.

No one was in custody Sunday evening. State police are involved in the investigation and they said they were actively pursuing leads. They said they were looking to see if surveillance cameras are set up in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to call UConn police at 860-486-4800. Campus officials said the student union would remain closed until further notice.

A text was sent at about 3:30 a.m. to everyone who has signed up to receive emergency texts from the university. An e-mail was sent to students and faculty at UConn and an "Emergency Condition" notice was posted to the university's Web site.

Howard, a junior, led the Big East in punt returns last season and recovered a fumble in UConn 38-25 victory Saturday over Louisville.

UConn officials said Howard's girlfriend was pregnant with the couple's child. They said UConn football coach Randy Edsall called Howard's family to inform them of the stabbing.

A team meeting was held at 6 a.m. on Sunday to discuss Howard's death, and UConn officials said 90 percent of players and coaches attended. They said UConn's game scheduled for Saturday at West Virginia will be played as scheduled.

UConn junior Daniel Stark said he watched Saturday’s game and was excited about the team’s outlook for the season. Stark said he received a text message from UConn notification system Sunday morning, alerting him of the stabbing. He said shortly afterward, he found out Howard had died.

“It’s definitely a tragedy, I mean the win yesterday was such a morale boost and that feeling was just turned around. It’s like a low in my stomach when I got that text this morning,” he said. “It’s just painful, the UConn community is hurt.”

Many students said they are surprised the stabbing happened on campus.

“I usually feel pretty safe, nothing really happens, so it’s pretty surprising, I’d say,” senior Katie Kabot said.

Although police said the stabbing was not a random act, students said they remain worried about safety.

“Last year there was another stabbing off campus, it just seems like it’s becoming a trend,” Stark said.