Iowa’s Aaron White picks up first B1G award

IOWA CITY - From his high-flying dunk against Illinois to his quick-twitch overtime steal at Penn State, Iowa's Aaron White has elevated his profile and his legacy in the twilight of his senior season.

White, who earned his first Big Ten's men's basketball player of the week honor, scored 50 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in those two victories. Going back three games, White has 68 points and 34 rebounds. All three were Iowa victories, and White has paced the Hawkeyes (19-10, 10-6 Big Ten) to their first 10-win Big Ten season since 2006.

With the game in the balance at Penn State on Saturday, White almost single-handedly determined the outcome. The Hawkeyes led 75-74 with 30.8 seconds left in overtime, and Penn State's D.J. Newbill attempted to inbound the basketball. As Newbill tossed toward teammate Geno Thorpe, White broke toward the ball and secured the steal. He was immediately fouled.

White, a 6-foot-9 forward from Strongsville, Ohio, sank six consecutive free throws in the game's final 29.2 seconds. Twice more he took the inbound pass after Penn State free throws just so he could attempt his own. White finished the game 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

'They can yell and scream all they want, I'm still going to make them,” White said. 'The basket is still the same length. I do this all the time. I told Sapp (Anthony Clemmons) to throw me the ball. You could pretty much see that he wasn't throwing that ball to anybody else but me. I came up to him and said, ‘Throw that ball to me. I'm going to make the free throws, and we're going to win.'”

'That kind of shows his senior leadership and how tough he really is,” Iowa senior guard Josh Oglesby said.

That victory followed White's career-high 29-point night against Illinois. He was 10 of 12 in free-throw shooting and also had nine rebounds. His three 3-pointers also were a career-best. He produced a highlight-reel play when he snagged a high lob pass from Clemmons and slammed it home to give Iowa a 10-point lead with 5:19 remaining.

White registered a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 28-point win at Nebraska.

'He's been impressive,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'But when you're in a situation like we were at Penn State, it was such an intense game and lot of changes in the score. We're up, we're down. Overtime. Somebody has to make a play to win the game, and that's what he did. I think from that standpoint, that's what's impressive.

'Yeah, he had numbers. He had numbers in the game before that were really impressive. But when the game is in the balance, who is going to make a play to win it? That's what you've got to love about Aaron White.”

White has accumulated significant statistics during his four years. He has 1,747 career points, just 21 shy of tying Greg Stokes for third on Iowa's scoring chart. White needs 33 points to move past Acie Earl for second place. White passed Michael Payne for fourth on Iowa's career rebounding list with 868. White needs 10 to pass Ed Horton for third. Greg Brunner is Iowa's record-holder with 990.

Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky and White are the only Big Ten players to average more than 15 points and six rebounds. White is the Big Ten's active rebounding leader and one of only two active players with more than 1,700 points, 850 rebounds, 175 assists and 125 steals.

White holds Iowa's all-time free-throw record with 591, soaring past No. 2 Roy Marble (516) earlier this season. In Iowa's 10 Big Ten victories, White has made 7.1 free throws in 8.9 attempts. In Iowa's six Big Ten losses, White has made three free throws in 4.5 attempts.

'He's doing fantastic things on both ends of the court,” Indiana Coach Tom Crean said. 'He's got the quick twitch; you saw it the other night with the steal that he had at the end of the Penn State game. He just continues to improve. They do a great job of making him better. He's always been an athlete that was a pretty good basketball player. Now he's a great basketball player that's a tremendous athlete.”

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