USA Basketball Photo
Kentucky freshman Jasper Johnson had his best game for Team USA Tuesday in a 129-70 win over Cameroon in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Switzerland.
Johnson had 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3, along with one rebound, one assist and one steal in only 11 minutes after injuring his hand late in the third.
“He got hit on his hand in the third quarter. The coaches sat him out most of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter so he could put ice on it,” Dennis Johnson, Jasper’s father, said.
Dennis Johnson and his wife made the trip to watch their son play and Dennis Johnson said his son was “good” for future play.
“Traveled too far to be soft,” Dennis Johnson joked.
Jasper’s father also said that the late Alvis Johnson, Dennis’ father and Jasper’s grandfather, would be telling him not to be “soft” for Team USA.
“He’s in heaven mad because he missed his first two open looks today,” Dennis Johnson said.
Jasper Johnson’s best play probably came late in the first half when he turned a steal into a made 3-pointer for USA just before the buzzer.
The U.S. trio of Mikel Brown Jr. (24 points, 8 assists), AJ Dybantsa (16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) and Koa Peat (15 points, 6 rebounds) continued their streaks of scoring at least 10 points in each game of the World Cup.
Team USA finished group stage play 3-0 and advances to the round of 16 which begins on Wednesday.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope watched Johnson’s first two games in Switzerland and assistant coach Cody Fueger was at Tuesday’s game and will be on site the rest of the event.
Pope and Fueger obviously are also watching recruiting targets Caleb Holt, who had 18 points Tuesday, along with Brandon McCoy (7 points) and Tyran Stokes (6 points, 3 assists).
