{"id":544514,"date":"2026-01-18T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544514\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T11:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:00:22","slug":"jasper-johnsons-productive-first-half-vs-tennessee-should-not-be-overlooked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/544514\/","title":{"rendered":"Jasper Johnson’s productive first-half vs. Tennessee should not be overlooked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denzel Aberdeen<\/a> saved Kentucky in the second half<\/a> against Tennessee, but it was Jasper Johnson<\/a> who kept the Wildcats alive in the first half.<\/p>\n

The freshman guard had his coming-out game during Saturday\u2019s 17-point comeback win over Tennessee in Knoxville. Sure, it wasn\u2019t as flashy as his 22-point performance against NC Central last month, but it was far more impactful and on a much larger stage. Johnson finished with 12 points \u2014 all coming in the first half \u2014 in a high-pressure situation against the Volunteers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was terrific,\u201d Head coach Mark Pope<\/a> said of Johnson. \u201cHe actually gave us a massive lift when we were stuck. And I thought he was absolutely terrific defensively. He was really solid. I\u2019m proud of him. And you know, his future in this game is so bright. He\u2019s gonna have these steps like this, and this was a big step for him and he did exactly what we desperately needed him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Aberdeen picked up a pair of fouls less than three minutes into the game, Pope turned to his prized high school recruit for relief. Johnson shot 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from deep in the opening 20 minutes. He hit a pair of triples within a 90-second span that helped cut Kentucky\u2019s deficit down from a dozen to six. After the Vols went ahead by 17 points deep into the first half, Johnson knocked down a couple of shots that helped make it just an 11-point UT edge at the intermission.<\/p>\n

For the game, Johnson\u2019s stat line consisted of 12 points, four assists, two rebounds, and one turnover in 19 minutes. He didn\u2019t score in the second half, but his six minutes (including three assists) were highly important. There were zero notable mistakes from him. His chemistry with fellow freshman Malachi Moreno<\/a> showed up in big moments. <\/p>\n

All of this came after the Lexington native scored only five points total through UK\u2019s first four SEC games. He didn\u2019t even see the floor against Missouri. But from the moment Pope called on him early on against Tennessee, Johnson was ready to seize the opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been patient all year with his minutes and stuff,\u201d Junior forward Mo Dioubate<\/a> said of Johnson. \u201cI tell him every time, your time is gonna come, just stay ready for it. He stays in the gym, he watches film, and when his name was called today, he was ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season hasn\u2019t gone as Johnson likely expected so far. But he was critical to Kentucky\u2019s success in this game. With starting point guard Jaland Lowe<\/a> out for the season due to injury, this won\u2019t be the last time Pope entrusts Johnson with extra playing time. Johnson looked as comfortable as he has all season against a defense ranked top 15 nationally. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Tennessee\u2019s) guards put so much pressure on, and their gap help is so great, and they\u2019re so physical,\u201d Pope added. \u201cAnd for Jasper to be as efficient and decisive as he was tonight is a great sign for him that he\u2019s gonna have a great future. Proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denzel Aberdeen saved Kentucky in the second half against Tennessee, but it was Jasper Johnson who kept the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,4452],"class_list":{"0":"post-544514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jasper-johnson-25-overtime-elite"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115915759762129876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}