IU basketball’s Xavier Johnson continues 'making winning plays' in homecoming vs. Maryland

His family didn’t have to go far around I-495 to watch. They’d been on Baltimore Avenue before, only around a mile south of Maryland’s campus to watch Xavier Johnson play against DeMatha Catholic High School.

They were all there waiting for him after the game. In a video posted to his Twitter account, Johnson walked out of the Xfinity Center tunnel after IU’s 68-55 win over Maryland to find a large group waiting for him. The near-minute long video shows Johnson hugging and dapping-up all the different family members there to finally see him.

This was home for Johnson. He’s from Woodbridge, Va., to be more specific, and this was the closest he’s ever been to playing a college game at home. He’d played in Virginia before while at Pitt for conference games against Virginia and Virginia Tech, but neither school was quite as near his home as Maryland.

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There isn’t a clear number on exactly how many tickets Johnson had for this game, but an IU spokesperson said he had a lot of family coming. They were there to watch him continue his recent stretch of strong play.

“It's only 45 minutes from being home,” Johnson said after IU’s win over Penn State. “I know it's going to be a good environment overall. I'm still going to play with my team and go and win the game on the road, another one."

That, he did, scoring eight points along with nine assists. He only turned the ball over twice and finished the game with a team-high +20 rating.

In his return home, Johnson looked like the player that was named the player of the year as a senior in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, a league featuring some of the most prestigious programs in the nation. His numbers weren’t the high volume 18.4 points per game he averaged as a senior at Bishop O’Connell, but instead the same point guard that calmly and maturely runs the offense.

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Over his past four games, Johnson is averaging 14.8 points per game, 5.8 assists per game (23 in total over the four games) and only has seven turnovers in that span.

“X is starting to see the game better is what I call it,” IU coach Mike Woodson said after IU’s win over Maryland. “The game is slowing down now. He’s starting to see things. He’s making winning plays for our ball club on both ends of the floor.”

Johnson started the game nearly throwing down a thunderous dunk in the opening minutes, but it was his vision — seeing the game better, as Woodson said — that stood out.

With IU having just taken an 11-8 lead, Johnson crossed over into the lane to shake off Fatts Russell defending him. He jumped as he neared the rim and lowered the ball below his waist in the air to avoid the arms of Eric Ayala before dumping off a perfectly placed backwards pass to Trey Galloway without even looking. Galloway finished the easy lay up.

Playing the role of floor general, Johnson led IU back from an early 8-0 deficit to respond with a 17-3 run. With an injury to Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander’s health in question before the game, Woodson had said he may need to play Johnson for 40 minutes against Maryland.

He’d only play 30, though only due to the large lead IU had. Those 30 minutes commanded the IU offense just as he’d always been known to do in his youth playing in the Washington D.C. area.

In the past four games, Johnson has been among IU’s best players on both ends of the floor. He’s been efficient and effective. And he’s given IU stability at a guard position that lacked it in the early going of the season.

“He’s always been able to defend and get after people,” Woodson said. “But offensively I think the game is starting to slow down for him and coming a little bit easier for him. And we’re benefitting from it.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Xavier Johnson's DMV homecoming a good one for Hoosiers point guard