BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball point guard Xavier Johnson came off the bench in the team's 74-70 win over Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

He missed the Hoosiers previous six games with an elbow injury he suffered in a 74-68 win over Iowa on Jan. 30, 2024. Johnson was previously sidelined for seven games earlier in the season with a foot injury.

The sixth-year senior received a standing ovation when he checked in with 13:25 to go in the first half. He had five points with an assist in 15 minutes. He came into the game averaging 8.3 points and 2.1 assists per game.

"It's great to have X back," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "I mean, every day I go to bed thinking about what this team could have been like if we had X earlier. To have him back tonight, you can see the game changes a little bit when he's on the floor."

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While Johnson had five turnovers, Woodson loved having his veteran presence back on the floor and the way his athleticism impacts the game.

"He gives us defensive pressure out front," Woodson said. "He gives us speed in terms of he's the only guy that can really change directions and make plays off the bounce."

"And then when we're pushing the basketball, that's when we're at our best. When he's got the ball and pushing and we can get ahead of the ball, we can play a little faster with X on the floor. We just got to get him in a little better shape and get him playing the right way."

Woodson mentioned the possibility of Johnson returning to the lineup during virtual press conference on Monday. The original timeline he was given by the team's training staff was four to seven weeks. Johnson was still wearing a brace on his left arm that he had covered up by a white long-sleeved shirt.

Johnson didn't get as much practice time as Woodson likes to give injured players before they return to the lineup, but the coach made an exception for the veteran who missed nearly all of 2022-23 season with an injury as well.

"I'm just going to follow his lead," Woodson said, on Monday.

"He did some things yesterday on the floor, not a lot of contact," Woodson said. "...I know he wants to play in the worst way. Time is kind of running out on him. I feel for him in that regard, but I'm just going to follow his lead."

Indiana true freshman Gabe Cupps still got the start at point guard, but played less than 20 minutes for only the second time in the last seven games. He had two points and a steal against Wisconsin.

"From a basketball standpoint it's hard to gauge our season based only the fact we haven't had Xavier," Woodson said, on Monday. "I'm not putting it all on that, but Xavier was a big piece to the puzzle in terms of leadership and being able to run our team as a senior point guard."

"We put so much pressure on Gabe Cupps that that's not fair to him even though he's played well in spurts for us. It's just for me, it's been tough in that regard because we haven't had Xavier. We just got to continue to work."

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball's Xavier Johnson returns to lineup vs. Wisconsin