STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — It was a simple concept, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. Someone had to make a play and he had just the guy in Aaron White.
White scored 21 points, including six free throws in overtime, and the Hawkeyes were able to scrape past Penn State 81-77 in overtime on Saturday night.
White’s steal of a D.J. Newbill in-bounds pass with 29 seconds left in overtime swung momentum the Hawkeyes’ way, as did his free-throw shooting.
“The steal was the play of the game,” McCaffery said. “This was a hard-fought game. Both teams put themselves in position to win. Somebody has to make a play; he (White) made it.”
Mike Gesell (14), Gabriel Olaseni (12), Josh Oglesby (12) and Jarrod Uthoff (11) also scored in double figures for the Hawkeyes (19-10, 10-6), who were 25-of-27 from the free-throw line.
Newbill scored 19 points for Penn State (15-14, 3-13), which has lost 10 Big Ten games by nine points or fewer. Shep Garner added 17 points, Geno Thorpe 14 and Ross Travis 10 for the Nittany Lions.
Iowa won its fourth straight game, is 6-3 in conference road games and 6-2 in February. Penn State has not won since Feb. 7 and has lost five straight.
With the game tied at 74-all, Gesell sank one free throw for an Iowa lead and Newbill followed with the turnover and White was fouled.
White converted both free throws for a 77-74 lead and added four more free throws to clinch the win.