Johnson's career game sparks Pitt to a victory
Wednesday night marked the 80th game in Xavier Johnson’s career at Pitt. The junior point guard had started 78 of the first 79 games, but when Pitt took on Virginia Tech last evening, he found himself sitting on the bench to open the game.
There may have been good reason for it. Johnson’s last game was one to forget. He posted just five points in 19 minutes of action, and fouled out of the game after being whistled for a technical foul. Pitt ultimately lost to Notre Dame 84-58, and Jeff Capel thought his team needed a new look in the starting lineup.
“I told my team on Monday when we came back that we would not have the same starting lineup,” Capel said after Wednesday’s game with Virginia Tech. "I don’t know who will start, but it won’t be the same and it will be determined by what happens in practice.”
Pitt opened the game with Femi Odukale and Nike Sibande in the starting backcourt, while Johnson and sophomore Ithiel Horton started the game on the bench.
Johnson did not see it as a demotion. He did not get discouraged, either. The junior guard simply churned out one of the best performances of his career. He scored a career-best 32 points on 11-17 shooting, including 4-7 from 3-point range. He also issued seven assists and pulled down five rebounds in Pitt’s 83-72 upset win over No. 16 Virginia Tech.
“I feel like I haven’t been performing the way I’m supposed to perform lately and so to me it just woke me up and just made me more humble and come into the game ready to play,” Johnson said after posting his career high in scoring at Pitt.
He came out firing, too. Johnson made five of his first six shot attempts from the field. He totaled 14 of his team’s 31 first half points. The Virginia native put behind Saturday’s game quickly, and his coach praised the way he controlled the game, like a good point guard is supposed to do.
“I just thought he played under control and the really good points guards have the ability to understand what the game needs, what the game calls for,” Capel said. “Sometimes that can be double figure assists, low scoring, great defense. Sometimes that can be 30 points. X has the ability where he can do both and it’s just him understanding each and every day and each and every game what the game calls for.”
Johnson seemed to know what his team needed on Wednesday. With the Hokies keying on star forward Justin Champagnie, he was able to push forward in the scoring column, while playing within the team’s offense. He took his time on the bench as a positive, and saw how to attack what the Hokies were doing.
“It’s humbling, but to me it just helped me relax to be honest,” Johnson described of his time out of the starting lineup. “Because I saw what they were doing defensively and offensively, so when I came into the game everything just seemed to be slow.”
Johnson played equally as strong in the second half and came up with timely shots during a key run for the Panthers. After the Hokies took their final lead at the 11:54 mark, Pitt responded with a 27-10 run, with Johnson accounting for 10 of those points. Pitt was able to swing a 45-43 deficit to a 15-point advantage over the next seven minutes of play.
“My pace today, it was different today as it was the last couple of games we played,” Johnson said of his own performance.
Johnson took advantage of what the game presented on Wednesday and helped end a three-game losing streak. Perhaps it was the spark this team needed after it appeared they were falling off the track.
“I don’t think his mission was to score 30, but I think it was just for us to play really well,” Capel said of Johnson. “He’s really important for us.”