The Hawkeyes and the Fighting Illini have already jousted each other just days before they fight at Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City this weekend.
The Orange Clash, a longtime group of Illinois supporters and fans, said its purchase of 200 tickets for Saturday’s Iowa-Illinois game was canceled Wednesday by the Iowa state’s sports department. That decision costs the group more than $6,000 because it’s too late to cancel charter buses and other travel arrangements. ” he denounced.
But Iowa officials refuted the claims, accusing Orange Crush of being deceptive. According to a statement from the school sent to ESPN, Orange Crush claimed the tickets belonged to a chapter of the Boys & Girls Club in Illinois, after which he purchased the tickets at a discounted rate.
The school later said it would donate tickets for Saturday’s game to the Iowa Boys and Girls Club chapter.
“The Iowa State Athletics Department has learned of a discounted group ticket order for the Iowa vs. Illinois men’s basketball game on behalf of the Illinois chapter of the Boys & Girls Club,” Iowa said in a statement. After following up with the organization, it became clear that this was not the case.We contacted the individuals who made the original ticket orders and they admitted that they had mistakenly ordered the tickets under the non-profit. The Iowa Athletics have refunded and donated their original ticket orders to the Cedar Rapids Boys & Girls Club and are excited to welcome these kids to the sold out Carver Hawkeye Arena this Saturday. I have.”
The non-profit organization Orange Crush statement on Wednesday The ticket was “legally purchased,” he said.
“It is very disappointing for our group that this trip was canceled as we had been looking forward to it since we received the tickets in the mail in October.” It is very disappointing for the 150 students who raised a total of $2,649.41 in funding for the State of Illinois, and most of all, the refusal of the University of Iowa and its Athletic Department to face this issue. It is the result of a mistake we made when selling tickets to our billing address in Champaign.”
Illinois beat Iowa 89-76 in the series that began in 1908. Illinois and Iowa have shared the last 10 matchups (5-5).
iowa star Chris Murray (20.6 points per game) helped the Hawkeyes finish 6-2 over their last eight games. Also leading is Texas Tech’s Terrence Shannon Jr. (17.2 points), who is 7-1 in Illinois’ last eight games.
