Garrett Johnson came into the season with the expectation that he would fill a role for the Fresno State Bulldogs - rebound, score when an opportunity presented itself, defend twos and threes and if it came to it, fours if he had to.

But he barely was playing at the beginning of December, his minutes limited.

Johnson played only six minutes in the Bulldogs loss at Colorado and did not get into the game at all at Oregon. He didn't play a single minute against Cal Poly, either.

But he obviously stayed ready. In the Bulldogs' 68-65 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Johnson came off the bench and played a key role in the second half as Fresno State was coming back from a deficit that was 17 points late in the first half and 12 points at halftime.

''He gave us some huge minutes,'' said Kevin Olekaibe, who scored a career-high 30 points in the victory including the 3-pointer with 26 seconds to go that gave them the lead.

Johnson entered the game with 13:21 remaining, the Bulldogs still down by seven. A few minutes later, he pulled down a defensive rebound and Fresno State scored at the other end, taking the lead on a free throw by forward Jerry Brown. He later had an assist on a 3-pointer by Olekaibe that allowed the Bulldogs to push their lead to 53-46, had two more rebounds and scored a basket.

In 13 second-half minutes, he had two points, three rebounds and two assists.

''We talked to him about how we really need him to be an important guy off the bench and giving us some positive minutes off the bench and he's done that,'' Coach Rodney Terry said.

''He's really responded and stayed tuned into what the game plan is offensively and defensively and I've been really happy with him and happy for him. He hasn't given up on helping this team get better. You know what, he just kept working. He kept working and I encouraged him to keep working because there was going to come an opportunity when it was going to be his time to step up and I wanted to make sure he was prepared and ready and I think he capitalized.''