Iowa rolls Northwestern to sixth straight B1G win

IOWA CITY - They walked off the court to thunderous applause, their job complete with 43.1 seconds left.

Three seniors who enlisted into an Iowa basketball program mired in a valley left at the top of the hill. Aaron White, Josh Oglesby and Gabe Olaseni had tears streaming down their cheeks as they hugged their coaches near the end of a 69-52 triumph against Northwestern on Saturday. It was a riveting end to an emotional journey, culminated with the school's best Big Ten finish since 1996-97.

The season before their arrival, Iowa finished 4-14 in league competition and 11-20 overall. This year, the Hawkeyes are 12-6 in the Big Ten and 21-10. They entered Big Ten Tournament play this week with a six-game winning streak.

'To make the gradual impact that we have ... it's tough to win in this league,” White said. 'But 12-6 is amazing and to finish the way we have, it's a special year, and I'm excited for it to keep going.”

The ceremonial beginnings belied the tenacity of Iowa's preparation. Northwestern (15-16, 6-12) beat the Hawkeyes in overtime three weeks ago in Evanston. White, who led all scorers with 25 points, opened with two 3-pointers and paced the Hawkeyes to a 15-4 lead. The Wildcats continued to grind against Iowa's defense, eventually cutting their deficit to two at 25-23. Then Iowa scored the next eight points and led by six at halftime.

Iowa flexed early and often in the second half. Six consecutive points boosted the lead to 12. Jarrod Uthoff later popped two 3-pointers and Adam Woodbury scored five straight points. Another Uthoff layup pushed Iowa ahead 52-35 with 9:32 left.

After struggling against Northwestern's zone in their previous meeting, Iowa went over the top. Six times the Hawkeyes connected on lob dunks. White slammed down four, while Uthoff drilled two. Point guard Mike Gesell, who had nine assists, tossed all four alley-oop dunks to White.

'When you've got a guy that can basically touch the top of the backboard, it's pretty easy to get lobs,” Gesell said.

Iowa's day was about its seniors, and White again was the star. He finished with his fourth straight 20-point outing. He now sits in second place in Iowa's scoring list with 1,793 career points, passing Greg Stokes - with whom he was tied entering the game - and Acie Earl.

Center Gabe Olaseni earned his first career start and scored three points with three rebounds in 15 minutes. Josh Oglesby also started - his first this year but ninth overall - and sank a 3-pointer for three points.

The day was emotional for all three, who were joined by their families in a pregame ceremony. Olaseni was flanked by his mother, sister and younger brother, the first time his London-based family saw him play in Iowa. Oglesby, a Cedar Rapids native, was moved to tears by a text from his mother early Saturday morning.

'I think the hardest part about it was obviously seeing her and then seeing Gabe and Whitey cry and shaking coach's hand was tough,” Oglesby said. 'I saw Whitey start to tear up, and I started to tear up a little bit. I was trying to hold it back, I didn't want to cry. It was emotional. Obviously we got a win and that was huge.”

For those three seniors - plus early walk-on and scholarship senior Kyle Denning - the victory, the hugs, the tears and the curtain call provided nothing less than the perfect ending.

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