Officials in the Northwestern Athletic Department said Tuesday they are looking into claims of “unacceptable” fan behavior at last Saturday’s sold-out game against Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

NU students may have ridiculed an Illinois student manager and thrown food at Fighting Illini fans, NU Athletic Director Mark Murphy said.

“We were very disappointed in the behavior of a few fans on Saturday, ” Murphy said. “There’s no place for some of the behavior we saw, but it was a very small part of the day as a whole.”

That type of conduct is not only disrespectful, but can hurt students, said Chris Boyer, NU associate athletic director in charge of external affairs.

A Big Ten policy implemented in 2002 aims to hold schools responsible for the actions of the students in their sections.

Under the policy, the conference can influence what type of relationship a school can have with an offensive student section, including the funding the section receives, Boyer said.

Things for which the Athletic Department pays — including free T-shirts, the WildSide signs and halftime contests for students — could be in jeopardy if poor behavior continues.

After the game Saturday, several Illinois players, along with coach Bruce Weber, said NU fans crossed the line.

“If our students said some of the things they said, we’d get in trouble,” Weber said.

Players accused fans of, among other things, throwing a piece of food onto the floor during warmups.

“Somebody threw a doughnut or something in the warmup,” guard Luther Head said. “That made us mad. That was disrespectful.”

Other Illinois players said pizza was thrown onto the floor.

However, Boyer said they found no witnesses to the throwing, although the Athletic Department still is looking into it.

“Obviously a projectile thrown on the floor is very concerning to us,” he said.

Illinois players also said NU students directed insults at Fighting Ilini team managers.

“I didn’t really like that at all,” Head said. “(The managers) weren’t playing the game. They didn’t need to talk to them.”

Boyer said the athletic department takes any comments directed at individuals “very seriously.”

Big Ten rules contact Brad Traviola could not be reached for comment.

Weber said the bad jeers turned into good play for the Illini.

“Our players like it,” he said. “It’s college. They were even abusing our managers. That’s part of having the home court.”

Some Illinois players said the jeers weren’t all bad.

“They were chanting ‘overrated,’ and the game hadn’t even started,” Illinois center James Augustine said. “That was kind of funny. That gets you excited to play.”

Boyer also said he liked the behavior of most of the fans.

“By and large it was a positive crowd and a great home-court advantage,” he said.

Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected]<.>