Kobe Johnson believed he could be doing a lot more for the Trojans last season while mostly watching from the sideline, averaging less than 8 minutes of playing time per game as a true freshman.
"All freshmen get mad when they don't play big minutes. Kobe thought he should have been starting, playing 35 minutes last year -- he just wasn't as good as our guys. Now he is," USC coach Andy Enfield said Saturday night. "... Now he looks like a darn all-league player, and he played like that the entire game tonight."
Not only did Enfield believe Johnson was indeed ready to emerge this season, he somewhat surprisingly named the sophomore a team captain along with more obvious veteran selections Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson.
Asked before the season what Johnson had done to suddenly earn that stature, Enfield answered, "Kobe leads by example."
Watch the Trojans regularly and that comment comes to life game in and game out for the relentless second-year guard who ranks second in the Pac-12 in steals per game, delivers dependable defense night after night and might just be the best shooter on the team in terms of all-around efficiency.
Saturday night, though, was Johnson's statement game, as he scored a career-high 21 points, snagged 4 more steals, dished 5 assists and made all 9 of his free throws to ice the game down the stretch as USC won 80-74 at home over Washington.
More to the point, the Trojans (17-6, 9-3 Pac-12) needed Johnson to take control like that -- along with freshman Tre White's season-high 22 points -- on a night when they were missing center Josh Morgan and guard Reese Dixon-Waters due to injury while Ellis and Peterson shot a combined 8 of 28 (2 of 14 from 3-point range).
"We tried a lot of different lineups tonight. We went big, we went small, in-between, and we made some plays when we had to. It was very impressive with some of these guys. Kobe Johnson played one of the best games I've ever seen a Trojan play with his effort," Enfield said. "He has a sprained ankle as well, but he knew he had to play because Reese was out and Josh was out. To have 21 points on 7 shots, 5 assists, 4 steals, no turnovers and make those big plays defensively and offensively was really impressive."
Washington (13-12, 5-9) had turned a 34-27 USC lead at halftime into its own three-point advantage with a 10-0 run to start the second half.
Fortunately for the Trojans, though, Huskies big man Braxton Meah had picked up 3 fouls in the first half and would get his fourth a little more than a minute into the second half. He fouled out with 15:03 left in the game, having played just 19 minutes, and the matchup turned into a battle of guards and smaller forwards, which benefitted the Trojans with Morgan sidelined indefinitely by his ankle injury.
"Both teams had five guards and forwards out there. To me, it looked like an AAU game at times, a pickup game," Enfield joked.
Even on a night when Ellis and Peterson were struggling to find their shot, the Trojans were well-equipped to win that style of basketball thanks to White and Johnson.
Every possession felt important in the second half as the game remained within a four-point margin until the final 3 minutes.
White, who finished 10 of 16 from the field while adding 8 rebounds and 4 assists, played with palpable confidence and delivered one smooth scoring play after another. A short jumper to tie it at 38-38, an impressive reverse layup along the baseline to knot the score at 42-42 and on and on.
Asked about his development through his freshman season, White suggested his increasing impact (four double-digit scoring outputs in the last six games) was a reflection of the team's overall growth.
"In a broader sense, I feel like we've gotten better. I feel like we're so deadly, each person on the court can get off any night," White said. "I feel like we're actually learning how to play off each other now, so it's like anybody's open on any possession so it really could be anybody's night."
Johnson, meanwhile, did a little bit of everything -- as he does.
He put the Trojans up 56-54 with 6:01 on the clock while knocking down a short jumper, drawing the foul and sinking the ensuing free throw. Johnson then immediately tipped away Keyon Menifield's pass into a turnover as Harrison Hornery corralled the loose ball for USC. After ball movement around the offense, Johnson dished to White for a short floater to push the lead to 58-54.
When Menifield then made back-to-back 3-pointers -- one a line drive that bounced off the side iron twice before dropping in -- to give the Huskies a 60-58 lead, Ellis tied the game again on a short pull-up jumper.
On the next possession, Johnson swished in a wide-open 3 from the right corner, Washington committed an offensive foul, and as Ellis missed a 3 on the other end White caught the rebound and tossed it back in before leaving the air.
After the Huskies tallied two free throws, Johnson dropped in a quick 3 from the top of the key to push the lead to 68-62 with 2:10 remaining as the Trojans finally started to pull away.
"I knew that [Ellis and Peterson] weren't hitting, so something had to be done and I feel confident in my offense. So, it just got going," Johnson said.
It was a 5-point game late when Washington's Jamal Bey stole the inbounds pass, but Johnson immediately stole the ball right back from Bey, drew a quick foul and made both free throws with 30 seconds left. In all, Johnson would go 6 of 6 at the line in those final 30 seconds.
Afterward, he was told of Enfield's high praise for his performance.
"That feels awesome," he said. "... Can't stop here, gotta keep going."
Looking back on his emergence overall this season, after biding his time as a freshman, Johnson said nothing changed in his approach, referencing that consistency that has come to define his game.
"I just stayed true to myself," he said. "I believe in myself, I just trusted the work that I put in and I knew that it was all going to pay off sooner or later. I'm happy that it's paying off right now, and just continue to work."
Said Enfield: "That's what we expect out of our players -- to improve, get in the weight room, work on your skills and become a basketball player. ... I'm happy to say that he's arrived."
NOTES: Enfield said he hopes Dixon-Waters, who is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.1 points per game, would be able to play Thursday at Oregon. Morgan is more of a question mark.
"That fall [Dixon-Waters] had in the game the other night was pretty bad. He has an injury and we're hoping with 5, 6 days, he'll be able to go when we hit the road," Enfield said. "Josh, no timetable. Josh had a pretty bad ankle sprain too. I think it's going be day-to-day. If we had to play a game tomorrow, neither one of them would play tomorrow. We're hoping by Thursday and Saturday of next week, at least one of them will be available."
Enfield also expounded on the challenge of replacing Morgan's presence in the frontcourt. Freshman Vincent Iwuchukwu made the start in his place but logged just 10 minutes with 6 points and 2 rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting.
"Josh is one of the best defensive bigs in the country. He's a fourth-year player, he's experienced ... Vince is learning. He's not nearly as good defensively as Josh is -- he has the potential to be, he just has to figure it out," Enfield said.
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Peterson finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks while finding ways to contribute despite his shooting struggles. Ellis scored 14 points with 5 assists.
Keion Brooks led Washington with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Menifield had 21 points. The Huskies lost despite shooting 60 percent from the field (15 of 25) and 80 percent from 3-point range (4 of 5) in the second half.
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Enfield won his 200th game at USC. He's 200-124 in 10 seasons with the Trojans now and has an overall career record of 241-152, including his two years at Florida Gulf Coast.
"A milestone that I didn't even know until I was reminded yesterday about it. Personal milestones are nice, but we're in this for the program," Enfield said. "That just means we've had stability here over the last 10 years with our coaching staff. I'm very proud of our assistant coaches and everybody who works so hard to give us a chance to win on a daily and weekly basis. And our players, I've had a lot of good players here as a head coach. We've recruited players, they developed and they've been very successful moving on either in the NBA or in life, some of our guys are overseas playing basketball.
"To have 200 wins at one school, we're very proud of that stability, but this is something that I share with our players and our staff. Because when I think of that, I just think of all the great people we've had here at USC. Hopefully there's many more, but certainly very proud of what we've done here."
