They came in their purple, with WildCARDs in hand, ready to get rowdy and cheer on their men’s basketball team against the No. 1 squad in the nation.

But for about 200 Northwestern students, the trip to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday ended early. Ticket takers were told student capacity had been reached at 2:20 p.m. — 70 minutes before the start of the game — and that they should stop admitting students.

NU’s loss against No. 1 Illinois was the first athletic event where students were turned away since Associated Student Government and the Athletics Department implemented a new undergraduate student ticketing policy this year.

Under the policy, students are admitted free to individual sporting events after paying a $25 activities fee at the start of the academic year.

About 200 students actually reached the turnstiles and were told the section was filled — but that doesn’t take into account those who turned around before they arrived after hearing the news from others.

Some were surprised the 1,200 seats set aside for students went so quickly and some were understanding. But many were angry.

Weinberg senior Doug Rush, a self-described die-hard fan, was irate after he and his friends were turned away.

“You have six seniors here, and I’ve missed only one game this season,” Rush said. “It’s absurd that we can’t get in and that there are people in (the arena) who have never even been to a game before.”

Tony Tagliavia, a December Medill graduate and current Medill graduate student, said he wasn’t surprised he didn’t get in after arriving 45 minutes before the tip.

“I was a little disappointed, but I understand,” Tagliavia said. “I’d rather there’d be a full student section than have it be easy to get into the game.”

A few fans who were denied entry decided to put their purple power to another use.

“There’s women’s tennis going on,” Communication sophomore Marc Valdez said. “We already have our Northwestern gear on, we might as well go support something.”

Some who were denied admission said they were concerned about students lending their WildCARDs to non-NU students.

Two Illinois students, Dan Johnson and Ben Johnson, were seated in the top row of the Wild Side. The brothers said they borrowed WildCARDs from friends who attend NU. Both wore orange Illinois basketball shirts.

Dan Johnson said it was the first Illinois game they had attended this year because tickets for Illinois home games are hard to come by.

The Johnsons used female students’ WildCARDs to gain admission.

Other students waited around after being denied admission and vented.

“We were told we need to leave,” said Communication senior Maham Khan, who showed up an hour before tip off. “This is outrageous … I pay ridiculous amounts of money to go to this institution. I should be able to go to the damn game.

“We should have priority over (Illinois) people.”

Khan’s friend Arpan Shah said he had been in a daze since being told he wouldn’t get in.

“I’m just freaking out,” said Shah, a Communication junior. “I’m so stressed out inside.”

Later, Khan and Shah’s waiting paid off, as they got into the game after another fan gave them tickets.

“We got in!” Khan beamed.

Added Shah: “But I’m still stressed.”

With Illinois ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, student turnout for Saturday’s game was the highest of the season.

Normally, most students arrive about 30 minutes prior to game time. But for the Illinois game, many expected the section to fill up, so some students began arriving three hours before tip off.

To accommodate the early-arriving students, the athletics’ marketing department hosted a pep rally at 1:15 p.m.

Although having a full student section present for pre-game warmups was a rare positive for the Wildcats, it also proved to be an infuriating negative for the Illinois players.

Illinois players said fans from the student section threw a slice of pizza and garbage at them before the start of the game and also derided the team’s student manager.

“I think we felt disrespected,” Illinois guard Dee Brown said. “I just think you don’t treat people like that.”

Reach Nick Collins at [email protected] and Zach Silka at [email protected].