White’s career night lifts Hawkeyes past Illini

IOWA CITY - When it mattered most, Aaron White came up with his best performance.

White, an Iowa senior forward, scored 14 consecutive points for his team in the second half to lift the Hawkeyes past Illinois 68-60 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena last night.

White finished with a career-high 29 points - including a career-best three 3-pointers - and also grabbed nine rebounds. The victory gave Iowa (18-10, 9-6 Big Ten) a three-game win streak in league play and clinches the Hawkeyes' third consecutive season with at least nine Big Ten wins.

Illinois (17-11, 7-8 Big Ten) led 36-35 early in the second half when White took control. He buried a 3-pointer to push Iowa ahead 38-36. He then scored inside on the Hawkeyes' next two possessions to boost the lead to six points.

Illini point guard Ahmad Starks hit a 3-pointer and was followed by two Rayvonte Rice baskets and Illinois retook the lead at 43-42. Then, once again, White came up big.

Two possessions later, White hit a pair of free throws and put Iowa up 44-43. He followed a possession later with a 3-pointer. After Starks matched him with one of his own, White hit another pair of free throws to move ahead 49-46.

With 5:19 left, White put an exclamation point on the game when he took a high lob pass from Anthony Clemmons and slammed it home to push the Hawkyes up 60-50. Mike Gesell dunked for one Iowa possession later and gave Iowa a 12-point lead.

But the Illini didn't fade away. Kendrick Nunn hit a 3-pointer and was followed by three free throws to move within 62-56. Iowa four consecutive free throws before Gesell knocked one down, and Illinois center Nnanna Egwu sank two to cut Iowa's lead to 63-58.

On Iowa's next possession, Egwu was called for a flagrant foul on White, who hit four free throws to ice the game.

Although it was the first and only time the teams have played this year, it didn't take long for these longtime border foes to turn the intensity from simmering into a full boil. With Iowa leading 10-6, Egwu missed inside and Iowa center Adam Woodbury rebounded. Egwu pulled Woodbury to the floor for a foul and sent both coaches to the court during the ensuing timeout.

After a tip-in from Illinois' Austin Colbert, Iowa scored on its next five possessions. Center Gabe Olaseni scored three times at the rim, including a dunk on a pass from freshman Dominique Uhl, to put Iowa ahead 20-12.

Illinois fought back. Rayvonte Rice drilled a 3-pointer to ignite an 11-2 run to push the Illini ahead. Then as he did all game, White end the run with a layup to put Iowa back up 24-23.

Rice scored 20 and Starks added 19 for the Illini.

Iowa plays at Penn State (15-13, 3-12 Big Ten) on Saturday. The last time Iowa won at least 10 league games was in 2005-2006.

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