Michigan Wolverines sophomore forward Brandon Johns's trajectory has been trending in the right direction for weeks now. He had a breakout performance against Iowa in early December, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Eight days later, on his birthday, Johns came up big again, with eight points, nine rebounds and two assists in an overtime loss to Oregon.
Then, at the most inopportune time for a player who was on a roll, Johns was forced to miss the next game against Presbyterian, as he battled an illness that was going around the team. That same game, junior forward Isaiah Livers went down with a strained groin.
Johns was back in the lineup against UMass-Lowell. In Livers' absence, he made his first career start, and notched a solid six points and four rebounds in 21 minutes.
Heading into Sunday's game against Michigan State, Livers was doubtful to play. Just before the game, Johns received the official word from the coaching staff that he'd be making his second career start — and his first collegiate start in his hometown of East Lansing against the Spartans.
"It did excite me a little bit, just being from here," Johns said about finding out he'd be in the starting lineup, minutes before tip-off. "Starting here is pretty cool, but I wanted to keep a level head, and not do too much."
As the starting lineups were announced at the Breslin Center, the Wolverines were met with boos, none louder than when Johns' name was called over the PA.
"That was great," Johns said with a smile. "I love it. I love that stuff. It's like a fire, you take it, you embrace it and everything and I just love it. It's supposed to get under people's skin or whatever, but I think when you're a true competitor, it really just fires you up."
Johns showed his competitive nature, not wilting under the pressure of playing in front of a hostile crowd that is upset the East Lansing High School product chose U-M over Michigan State, the team Johns grew up rooting for.
Sunday, Johns tied his career-high in points with 12, and added two rebounds and a steal, while playing a career-high 30 minutes in the 87-69 loss.
"I just tried to make the best of the moment," Johns said.
"Coming back here, I think he did fine," U-M senior center Jon Teske said of Johns' performance. "He did a great job of stepping in for Isaiah again, and you can see his athleticism. He can knock down threes, get into the paint, he's very strong down low. He's only going to get better from here. He's only a sophomore."
Even Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who ranted at Johns over the phone when Johns broke the news to Izzo that he had committed to the Wolverines over the Spartans, was impressed with the way Johns played.
"I thought Brandon Johns, from our area, played very well," Izzo said.
He's come a long way with his confidence, which is mostly showing up in his strength down low and rebounding ability. The next step is confidence with the outside shot. He shot four threes in the game, hitting one of them.
There were still several times Sunday when Johns didn't pull the trigger on some open outside shots. It's not just him — the Wolverines have hesitated and therefore, struggled shooting threes on the road this season. Their measly 22 percent mark from long distance was the highest out of the three road games so far.
"I think we hesitate a lot with our threes [on the road], second guess ourselves," Johns said of the road shooting struggles. "I think we need to be more confident in our shooting.
"It's a mental thing, so we just gotta stay mentally strong, mentally composed, and the more we do that, the more our shots will fall."
WIth eight road games left in the Big Ten schedule, Johns and the Wolverines certainly have more opportunities to right the ship on the road.
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