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CHAMPAIGN, ILL – The Fighting Illini host North Carolina State Tuesday in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge (8 pm CT on ESPNU). The game also will be the official dedication game for the renovated State Farm Center. The historic home to Illinois basketball recently completed three years of upgrades.
The $170 million-renovation effort of State Farm Center began in March of 2014 and wrapped up this fall. In addition to new locker rooms and team areas for both men's and women's basketball, the newly renovated facility features many improved fan amenities. They include air conditioning, new seats, new restrooms and permanent concessions on the upper concourse, LED lighting, a new sound system, a larger center-hung videoboard and façade LED ribbon board display, improved WiFi access, three new hospitality club spaces, four levels of premium seating, historical recognition displays in the upper concourse for all 21 varsity athletic teams, and the Mannie Jackson Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame located inside the new grand west lobby.
Tuesday's celebration will include a video tribute, on-court recognition of State Farm and other donors for their support that made the renovations possible, and giveaway items. All fans who enter the building with a paid ticket will receive a special co-branded State Farm Center/Illinois basketball keepsake, compliments of State Farm. Fans will receive either one of 5,000 tote bags or one of 9,000 keychains. Additionally, the first 5,000 fans to enter the arena will receive scratch-off cards to see if they win one of 2,000 State Farm Center replicas.
