Robert Johnson comes up big off the bench in win over Eastern Illinois

Robert Johnson started 33 of the 34 games he played at Indiana last season as a freshman.

He averaged 27 minutes per game and 27.7 in Big Ten play.

But fast forward to the 2015-16 season and Johnson was coming off the bench Friday night in the season-opening 88-49 victory over Eastern Illinois at Assembly Hall.

I believe it was Errek Suhr on the IU Radio Broadcast who made a really good point though. Basically, he said just think about how good Indiana could be if you had a player of Johnson’s caliber able to come off the bench.

Think about what that says about this Indiana basketball team and the depth it possesses. And it’s really true. Johnson played 22 minutes off the bench Friday night and was one of IU’s six players in double figures. He scored 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting and was 4 of 6 from 3-point range. He had two rebounds, three assists and three turnovers.

But the important thing is that he made an impact. And whether you start or not, the most important thing you want to say about any player is that they were able to impact the game.

Johnson impacted the game Friday night against Eastern Illinois.

The point is that with 22 minutes, Johnson still tied for the second most minutes played by an IU player Friday with Troy Williams at 22. Yogi Ferrell played 28 to lead the way. But even though he didn’t start, Johnson was a big factor off the bench.

Johnson was asked about his mindset coming in off the bench in the opener.

“Just pretty much keeping the same mind-set as I had when I was starting,’’ Johnson said. “Just trying to come in the game and do whatever needs to be done to impact the game.’’

Johnson said there were a lot of things he really liked Friday about coming off the bench.

“I think it’s all in being ready to play, especially off the bench,’’ Johnson said. “It’s a unique position to be in because you et to see how the game is being played, how the refs are calling game so you get to come in and make adjustments and try to impact the game.’’

IU coach Tom Crean said he hasn’t thought a lot about lineups just yet.

“I look at (Robert) as a starter, I really do,’’ Crean said. “Like I said before, we want to be two-deep, and when a guy is two-deep and can play numerous positions like he can, it creates even that much more value. But he’s one of our best defenders as is Yogi.

“So we’ve got to look at matchups. We’ve got to look at it ahead of time. What did he play, 22 minutes? He’s very efficient shooting the ball. He’s getting better and better. He’s as valuable as anybody else that we put out there.’’

Johnson’s double-digit scoring effort was the 13^th of his IU career. He has scored more than 20 twice with a career-high of 21 last season against Texas Southern.

His fourth 3-point field goals marks the third time in his career that he has hit four or more 3’s in a game. His career-high was five in a 5 for 8 shooting performance against Minnesota last season at Assembly Hall.