In 34 minutes, Kobe Johnson scored 19 points in a 70-57 Mountaineer win over Jacksonville State on Monday.
With the unexpected suspension of Kerr Kriisa, Johnson became the starting point guard for West Virginia to begin the season after spending his first two seasons in Morgantown as a role player.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work and been through a lot within the school, so this feels real good to me. These guys [trust] me,” Johnson said about his performance.
Johnson has always been a highly regarded defensive player with his near seven-foot wingspan, but with an increased role he had to increase his prominence on the offensive end.
“He’s always been really steady. So you knew you could count on him, but you had to get more aggression out of him and that’s been a struggle. And for Kobe to be more aggressive and get that confidence, that’s going to go a long ways for West Virginia men’s basketball” interim head coach Josh Eilert said of Johnson.
Johnson shot 7 of 17 from the field, he hit one three on five attempts and made all four of his free throws. On top of that, Johnson had six rebounds, five assists and one block.
“Just keep building off this win, you know keep running our offense, keep talking, you know working on our defense; We’ll be fine” Johnson said moving forward.
