'Let him loose': Indiana basketball's Xavier Johnson gets game ball after win over OSU

BLOOMINGTON — It was Indiana basketball guard Xavier Johnson's off-balance 3-pointer fading into the corner in front of his own bench on Saturday that put his team up for good with 9:50 to go against Ohio State on Saturday night.

The clutch shot in the 71-65 win came a day after his coach Mike Woodson called the 14 minutes he played in the Hoosiers' previous game against Nebraska "awful", but the tough love from the veteran coach was nothing new for the sixth-year guard.

"Shoot, that's every day," Johnson said, of Woodson's coaching methods.

Johnson admitted that Woodson's blunt assessment and his struggles — he was held scoreless for only the second time in 135 games on 0 of 3 shooting and had four turnovers against the Cornhuskers — provided added motivation as he prepared for just his second game back in the lineup since suffering an ankle injury against Harvard on Nov. 26.

He had 18 points with three rebounds and three assists against Ohio State.

"I haven't been myself lately," Johnson said. "I've been off for a month, so I was trying to find a rhythm in that game. I was doing a little bit too much on the offensive end. Tonight I let the game to myself. I trusted my coaching staff, my teammates to make the right play."

Indiana basketball point guard Xavier Johnson shakes off the rust

Woodson was a little more forgiving of Johnson's previous struggles after Saturday's game. He said part of the problem stemmed from the coach's own reluctance push the guard too hard in practice as he took his final steps back from injury.

That spilled over onto the floor as Woodson limited the guard to short stints on the floor even though he was in the starting lineup.

"He hadn't had much floor time in practice," Woodson said. "You know, I just didn't want to blow him out the first game. He was a little irritated at me, and I get that."

There wasn't any restrictions on Johnson's minutes on Saturday night with Woodson telling him during the shoot around earlier in the day that he was going to, "let him loose."

"I'm a sixth-year guy," Johnson said. "The team and Coach Woodson expects a lot out of me, and I'm going to give everything I got from the rest of the year on out."

Xavier Johnson provides much-needed veteran presence, swagger for the Hoosiers

The first glimpse that Johnson was feeling back to his old self came when he took the ball by himself up the court and drove right to the basket for under-handed layup to his left less than four minutes into the game.

Johnson's quick first step on the perimeter immediately put Ohio State guard Roddy Gayle on his heels.

The play that got Johnson into more of a rhythm came later in the half when he knocked down a 3-pointer while getting tackled to the ground by Dale Bonner. He remained locked in after that and frequently drew contact by attacking the basket.

He finished the game with more free throw attempts (11) than Ohio State had as a team (9).

The stat Johnson was most proud of in his 34 minutes was finishing the game with zero turnovers. He provided some stability handling the ball for an Indiana team that turned it over 36 times combined in their previous two games.

The Hoosiers only had four turnovers against Ohio State.

"That's something that you rarely see from me, honestly," Johnson said. "I'm an aggressive guard. I got to grow up, and I grew up tonight and got to keep growing up and not turn over the ball because my team needs me to make the right play every time."

Johnson's teammates are hoping the performance from Johnson is a sign of things to come for the guard.

"He's hungry for this and we're counting on him," Indiana reserve guard CJ Gunn said. "Even though he was out with his injury we were here to pick him up. He's our captain, our guard, so we all look to him for leadership, and he's done an absolutely amazing role doing that. He is going to help us lead us through this BigTen and hopefully win the championship."

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball's Xavier Johnson returns to form in Ohio State win