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On Friday night, Xavier threw everything they had at Indiana. A jam-packed Cintas Center brought energy from start to finish, and quick bursts of points had Indiana in a hole multiple times throughout the night. Once again, it felt like the pressure of playing away from the friendly confines of Assembly Hall would be too much for Indiana.

Yet, for as impressive as the Musketeer's performance was, Indiana's response was even more so. It's thanks in part to consensus All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis' 30 point performance, who had his way with the Musketeer defense. But for an Indiana offense that needed control from their ball handlers, they got it from Xavier Johnson.

“For the most part, X was solid man. He did all the things we needed him to do to help secure this win, so I’m pleased," said Indiana head coach Mike Woodson postgame.

Often times, Johnson's impact is always felt on the floor, regardless of if the score sheet will necessarily show it.

Tonight, though, was much different.

Johnson was the fastest player on the floor, playing in sync with his teammates and causing havoc for the Musketeer defense. The heavily-criticized point guard had what may be his best night in an Indiana uniform exactly when the Hoosiers needed it, scoring 23 points on 7-8 shooting from the field. The Woodbridge, VA product also added seven boards, two assists, and a steal on the night.

"Xavier Johnson is a really good player," Musketeer head coach Sean Miller said during his postgame presser. "For me not to talk about him, I mean he had 23. (He's) a very good guard, obviously Trayce is a very good big guy, and it was those two guys that were really very difficult for our defense."

Jackson-Davis had a big night down on the low block, one that you would come to expect from a consensus All-American in a matchup of heightened intensity. Yet, it's equally important that Johnson's play from the perimeter forced Sean Miller's team to respect him from the outside.

“They were tremendous, and I say that because they hadn’t practiced the last three, four, five days," Woodson said of Johnson and Jackson-Davis. "Under the weather, nicks here and there, so I was concerned coming in in terms of where we were going to get it from.

“They pushed us to the max, but I felt that Trayce and Xavier down the stretch, they brought it home for us.”

Indiana's struggles to shoot the ball reared their ugly head once again on Friday night, the Hoosiers missing frustrating open looks for a large majority of the night. However, Johnson was exempt from those woes, knocking down both of his attempts from the outside, each in a crucial moment that helped either swing or preserve momentum for Indiana.

"He played an unbelievable game," freshman forward Malik Reneau said postgame. For a guy like Reneau to be able to get his feet wet in a hostile environment and have the impact he did against the Musketeers is just as much a credit to the veteran leaders Indiana has as it is him. Especially down the closing stretch, his minutes together with Johnson on the floor were vital.

Perhaps Johnson's biggest play of the evening wasn't a scoring drive or the steal and transition lay-in in the midst of the second half. Closing time had called, and Indiana held onto a 80-79 lead. After a couple of empty possessions where Indiana had the chance to put it further out of reach, Xavier came down the court with the ball in their hands and around 30 seconds left.

Indiana forced a mishandle of the ball on the perimeter, and Souley Boum went to the floor to recover the ball. Both Johnson and Miller Kopp pounced on it and forced a jump ball, giving possession back to Indiana.

Johnson later sunk a free throw to double Indiana's lead to two, and the ball fittingly fell into his hands as the final horn sounded, Xavier's last ditch attempt at a rebuttal being tipped and intercepted at mid-court. As Indiana walked off the floor with one of their more gritty victories in recent memory, the senior leader's fingerprints were all over the result.

Indiana finally has a statement road win as a feather in their cap, and it's an impressive one at that. The Hoosiers fought for everything they got tonight, and came out with the desired result. With the stinging experience of being on the wrong end of many of these results last season, Johnson's (and the rest of the team's) play is a testament to just how much growth he and this Indiana squad have encountered. It's especially encouraging given how early in the season it is for the Hoosiers considering the remaining schedule still ahead of them.

If the play from the senior guard can sustain itself, Indiana has a lot of good to look forward to. After all, Race Thompson told everyone last March that Xavier is the "head of the snake" of this Hoosier ball club.

With tonight's outing, the college basketball landscape got an idea of just how much venom is in Johnson's bite.

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