Iowa refunds Orange Krush group order, saying tickets were 'falsely' purchased

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An off-court battle over ticket sales has both the University of Iowa and University of Illinois crying foul.

Iowa athletic officials have refunded about 200 tickets that they say the Illinois student cheering section – the Orange Krush -- purchased fraudulently.

In a statement released on Twitter, Orange Krush said Iowa officials "invalidated all 200 tickets that the Orange Krush had legally purchased." The Krush said they received their tickets in October.  "It is against the spirit of competition and rivalry, two outstanding attributes of the Big Ten Conference, to make this decision."

However, the Iowa ticket office discovered that the Krush misrepresented themselves as a local Boys & Girls Club to obtain the tickets.  As a result, the ticket costs were refunded, and the tickets will be donated to a local Boys & Girls Club in Iowa.

"The Iowa Athletics Department became aware of a discounted group ticket order for the Iowa-Illinois men's basketball game on behalf of an Illinois chapter of the Boys & Girls Club," the university said in a statement. 

"In following up with that organization, it became clear this was not factual."

"When contacting the individual who made the original ticket order, they admitted to falsely ordering tickets under the non-profit organization."

It was unclear which Boys & Girls Club was contacted, but there is a chapter in Champaign. It was also unclear when the discrepancy was discovered or whether Iowa would have sold the tickets directly to Orange Krush.

A university spokesman declined further comment and referred CBS 2 to their original statement.  The terms of service on Iowa's website clearly state's that the university can rescind tickets at their discretion.  In their statement, Orange Krush made no mention of the Boys & Girls club ruse. 

UPDATE:  On Friday afternoon, the organization posted a new statement on the Orange Krush Twitter page that took a decidedly different tone.  "In planning the Orange Krush road trip, we misrepresented ourselves as another active, charitable organization, which exercised poor judgment," the statement read, in part. "This was our mistake and for that we are truly sorry."

The Orange Krush plans a road trip every year to a visiting basketball arena and is known for disguising their identity until the game starts.

In 2013, CBS 2 Chicago joined the Krush as they traveled to a game at their rival, Northwestern:

"The Krush's annual ploy involves adopting a cover story to purchase a block of tickets (this year, they posed as "State Farm interns") and disguising themselves in the opposing school's colors (purple for Northwestern). At tipoff, the Krush members peel off their rivals' T-shirts to reveal the orange underneath and announce their presence

During warm-ups and team introductions, the Krush members packed into rows of bleachers at the top of Welsh-Ryan and lustily booed the Illini and cheered for the Wildcats. They sang the NU fight song (sort of). And they annoyed the adult Illinois fans seated near them.

But then tipoff came, and the Krush dumped their "Purple Pride" and instantly transformed into orange-clad Illini fans, sparking a round of laughs, applause and photos from the other surprised Illinois fans seated nearby."