Koren Johnson Becomes a Difference-Maker For UW Basketball
Koren Johnson made several critical plays on both ends of the court in Washington’s 78-73 upset victory over seventh-ranked Gonzaga last weekend.
The 6-foot-2 sophomore guard scored 11 points, added 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 24 minutes of action off the bench to help the Husky basketball team to its first win over the Bulldogs since 2005.
"When he plays as engaged like that, he's different," UW coach Mike Hopkins said on Monday.
Thirty-three seconds after Johnson checked into the game midway through the first half against Gonzaga, he was called for a shooting foul on Ryan Nembhard.
Less than a minute later, Hopkins made a substitution, but he didn't yank the former Garfield High School star to the bench. He trusted that Johnson wouldn't make the same mistake twice. His trust was rewarded.
With 5:47 to go until halftime, Johnson bolted towards the free-throw line to grab an offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer by forward Moses Wood and made a full 180-degree spin to convert a layup attempt and cut the Bulldogs lead to 37-34.
"He's a difference-maker," Hopkins said. "Now it just goes back to the consistency. I talked to him today about that [during] practice, [telling him], 'You just messed up because you just showed the level you can do every day.' "
Against the Bulldogs, the rising sophomore held guard Nolan Hickman to just 2 points in the second half, a significant development that led to the upset victory.
"I feel my defense was at an all-time high level," Johnson said. "That whole game I was just bringing more energy to the team. I feel I was [strong] on defense and everywhere, so there was no way he could take me out of the game."
Johnson opened the season with a career-high 25 points against Bellarmine, 15 of which came from behind the 3-point line, as a starter in place of an injured Kentucky transfer point guard Sahvir Wheeler.
Yet in the following games against Northern Kentucky, Nevada and Xavier, he made just 1 of 6 shots from deep while playing 20-plus minutes in all three outings.
In spite of the inconsistent play Hopkins named Johnson as a starter against UC San Diego in place of Rutgers transfer Paul Mulcahy, who missed the game because of a minor injury.
He played a season-high 30 minutes and scored 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting in the UW's 83-56 win and validated Hopkins' decision in the process.
After coming off the bench in his freshman season — the first time he could recall playing such a role — Johnson has played his way back to a lot of minutes and could make it difficult for Hopkins to settle on a starting lineup.
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