Iowa stops Ohio State, remains in first

IOWA CITY - Aaron White was in a foul mood and everyone on Iowa's bench knew it.

The Iowa senior forward was irate with his first-half performance, furious the Hawkeyes let Ohio State climb back into contention and really angry he got yanked after his third foul just 35 seconds into the second half.

Yeah, White was pissed off. But that vinegar turned to points and, ultimately, another Iowa victory.

White scored 22 points, including 18 in the second half, to pace the Hawkeyes to a 76-67 win against No. 25 Ohio State on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It gives the Hawkeyes a season sweep of the Buckeyes (14-5, 3-3 Big Ten) at both arenas for first time in 11 years.

More importantly, the win keeps Iowa (13-5, 4-1) tied atop the Big Ten standings in the loss column after five games for the first time since 1998-99, the final season of the Tom Davis era.

Saturday, it was White who took the Hawkeyes to the next level. His anger fueled his performance.

'I think I was upset with how I had been playing,” White said. 'I was disappointed I was on the bench not helping the team but at the same time the coaches kind of cooled me down and told me to watch the game, keep my head in the game so when I come in, I could make an impact and that's what I was able to do.”

White scored on six consecutive Iowa second-half possessions and totaled 12 points. Six points were on free throws, six others near the basket. He ignited his personal run with a steal that ended in a breakaway dunk. White drew a foul by attacking the hoop on Iowa's next possession and hit two free throws. Then White rebounded an air ball from OSU's Kam Williams and scored in the lane. After Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell drilled a 3-pointer, White answered with an inside bucket. He pulled down another Kam Williams miss, which led to a pair of free throws. Russell - who finished with a game-high 27 points - drilled another 3-pointer, and White followed with two more free throws.

White attacked the post because the Buckeyes' aggressive man defense called for it.

'It's exactly what you have to do when a team is playing defense the way they were playing,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'That was a decision they made. They were going to be up in our space, the Xs on the O. You've got to drive the ball. You've got to put it on the deck and drive it. You can't make a pass because the guy is in the passing lane. You can't feed the post because the guy is in the passing lane. You've got to go. That's what he did.”

The teams engaged in a physical battle, which allowed Iowa center Adam Woodbury to shine alongside White. Woodbury, a 7-foot-1 junior, powered for 13 points and 10 rebounds. Perhaps his most important play came on a rebound of a miss from Iowa guard Mike Gesell. Woodbury went to the court for the ball, secured the rebound and Iowa called timeout ahead of a potential tie-up.

'He's one of the most cerebral guys I've ever had, and he impacts the game that way,” McCaffery said.

The game provided the Hawkeyes with a major test in toughness. After taking a 9-0 lead on its first four possessions, Iowa and Ohio State battled to a draw for the rest of half and the Hawkeyes led 37-26. Ohio State ramped up its defense after halftime and forced five Iowa turnovers on its first seven possessions, and the Buckeyes trailed just 40-33 with 15:43 left in the game.

Then Iowa answered. On an out-of-bounds play, Gesell drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to boost Iowa's lead back to 10. The Hawkeyes stretched their lead to 17 inside of White's run, but Ohio State trimmed it to six points on a Marc Loving 3-pointer with 4:44 left.

'You could tell by Ohio State's body language and such that they really wanted this one,” White said. 'They were disappointed we got them at home, so they really wanted to ramp up the physicality, ramp up the defense.”

Iowa, however, didn't wilt. White scored five consecutive points, including three on free throws, to push Iowa back up 11 with 2:07 left. The Hawkeyes withstood another Russell 3-pointer on the next possession and finished the game at the free-throw line.

Iowa had struggled to finish similar games the last few years, including a previous home game against Michigan State. This time, White said, was different.

'It's different in the fact that we're answering every punch right now,” he said. 'We answered the punch at Minnesota. We answered the punch (Saturday). That second half early was a little sloppy, a little ugly. They really turned up the pressure full court, got into our guards. What we had to do was just attack them, try to finish and get to the line. That what we were able to do.”

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