Pacers to play Spurs at Assembly Hall

Before the Hoosiers take the court, another team will have its chance at Assembly Hall.

The Indiana Pacers will play a pre-season game Oct. 23 in Bloomington. The team will take on the San Antonio Spurs in its first game at the Hall since the early 1980s, according to the IU Athletics Department.

It is the Pacers’ fifth exhibition game at Assembly Hall. The game will be the Pacers’ seventh and last pre-season game before their regular season begins Oct. 28 in Atlanta.

Athletics Director Fred Glass said he wants the Pacers’ appearance to create excitement on campus. Details about any possible Pacers events on campus will be released at a later date.

Glass also said he hopes the game will remind fans that IU basketball is around the corner. The game will be a week after Hoosier Hysteria and less than two weeks before IU’s first exhibition game against Grace College on Nov. 4.

IU Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations J.D. Campbell said ticket information will be released sometime this week. IU students might receive discounted tickets for the game.

“It will be significantly lower than attending an NBA game in any NBA facility,” Campbell said.

Pacers Sports & Entertainment’s Chief Operating Officer Rick Fuson first contacted Glass about setting up the game.

“As part of the great basketball heritage here in the state of Indiana, we are excited to play a game in Bloomington,” Fuson said in a statement.

Glass said Pacers and IU basketball season-ticket subscribers should get preference before tickets go on sale to the public.

“We want to make this as accessible as possible,” Glass said. “Our goal isn’t to make a lot of money.”