Hawkeyes sweep Buckeyes
Published 10:56 pm Saturday, January 17, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Aaron White sat on the bench with foul trouble early in the second half, watching Iowa’s lead begin to evaporate. The senior responded in a big way.
White scored 18 of his 22 points in the second — including 12 straight during a key stretch — to lead Iowa to a 76-67 win over Ohio State on Saturday. White’s time on the bench helped him see vulnerabilities in the Buckeyes’ aggressive defense.
“Sometimes that perspective is a little different than if you’re out there,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “And so when it got to the point where I had to start doing something, I said, ‘Get in there, take over.’ Boy, did he take over.”
Adam Woodbury had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (13-5, 4-1 Big Ten), who swept the home-and-home series with Ohio State for the first time since 2004. Mike Gesell added 11 points.
D’Angelo Russell scored a game-high 27 points on four 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds for the Buckeyes (14-5, 3-3).
White struggled to get going in the first half, then found a quick seat on the bench after picking up his third foul less than a minute into the second half.
“I was upset with how I had been playing,” White said. “I was on the bench and not helping the team.”
White, from Strongsville, Ohio, took over a few minutes after checking back into the game, scoring 12 straight points to push Iowa’s lead to 16 points — and give the Hawkeyes a much-needed energy boost.
A White steal at half court led to his easy two-handed dunk. Later, the senior grabbed a defensive rebounded and dribbled coast-to-coast for a layup. White added a jumper and six free throws during the three-minute burst.
Ohio State made six 3-pointers in the second half to battle back. A Shannon Scott 3 cut Iowa’s lead to 68-62 with 4:46 left, but it never got any closer.
The Buckeyes only shot 38 percent from the floor and 14 of 21 from the foul line.
“I don’t know if we need to do more drills in practice or what,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “That was part of the halftime speech — just put the (dang) ball in the basket.”
The Hawkeyes opened the game on a 9-0 run and never trailed. Iowa forced three steals — two from White — in the first two minutes that led to a White dunk and transition 3-pointer from Jarrod Uthoff.
Jae’Sean Tate scored 11 points and Marc Loving added 10 for Ohio State.
The Hawkeyes beat Ohio State 71-65 on Dec. 30 in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
TIP-INS
Ohio State: The Buckeyes had won nine of the last 10 games in the series before Iowa’s two wins this season. … Ohio State lost at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time since 2008, snapping a five-game streak.
STAR POWER
Uthoff was held to five points on 2 of 7 shooting. Uthoff had scored in double figures in Iowa’s last five games.
UP NEXT
Iowa plays at No. 7 Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Ohio State plays at Northwestern on Thursday.
STAT LINES
The teams combined for 43 fouls and 56 free throw attempts. Nobody fouled out, but four players had four fouls each.