MEN'S BASKETBALL: How Kamani Johnson Made Most of Getting an Opportunity Against Elon
After an 81-55 win over Elon on Tuesday night, we found out how junior transfer Kamani Johnson got his chance.
"Kamani, the last week, has had his best and most focused practices," Eric Musselman said after snapping a two-game losing streak. "That's what you want in a player when you give him an opportunity."
It was his best game of the year ... and it wasn't really close.
Kamani Johnson scored 15 points, had seven rebounds and blocked three shots against Elon.
Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Images
Johnson played a season-high 17 minutes, scored 15 points, hauled in seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
He also brought some toughness to the court and that's been lacking for the Razorbacks the last couple of weeks.
"The one thing we know about Kamani is that he's tough," Musselman said. "He's not going to back down from anybody and that's something that this team needed.
"He provided it tonight and I thought he did a great job for us on the glass, drawing fouls and giving us a physicality."
The Hogs also started playing defense again. They held the Phoenix to just 35.6% shooting and also won the rebounding battle, 41-27.
Okay, that's not just winning. The Hogs dominated that category.
They also had a different starting lineup and 11 guys played in the first half. Johnson didn't even get into the game until the 5:15 mark.
Kamani Johnson didn't get into the game until late in first half and made the most of his chance.
Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Images
"A lot of effort, a lot of energy with those guys," Musselman said. "A lot of competitiveness. It was good.
"The last couple of games the goal has been to try to give different guys starts so we could have a body of work, a body of film work over break to decide exactly what we want to try to do heading into conference play."
That will all start Dec. 29 on the road against Mississippi State.
And Johnson will likely figure in those plans after Tuesday night's game.
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