When Zep Jasper sees K.D. Johnson yelling at the tape on his right wrist on Auburn’s bench, he knows what’s about to follow.

It’s in those moments that Johnson, Auburn’s fiery sixth man who has struggled at times offensively this season, is about to harness his energy and flip a switch. The maniac is about to be set loose.

“He’s one of those guys, you see him rip the tape off and then you see him go Super Saiyan in the game the next two minutes,” Jasper said.

Read more Auburn basketball: Wendell Green Jr.’s phone hasn’t given up this season, and neither has this Auburn team as it enters NCAA Tournament

Goodman: Auburn walk-on captures the soul of his city and the NCAA Tournament

NCAA Tournament opener provides reunion former Auburn staffer Matt Gatens, now an assistant at Iowa

Johnson has done his share of mouthing off at his right wrist this season; after serving as Auburn’s second-leading scorer a year ago, when he averaged 12.3 points per game in a starting role, Johnson has had trouble finding a rhythm offensively for stretch this season. He’s averaging 8.8 points per game off the bench and shooting just 38.3 percent from the field, with a 32.7 percent clip from beyond the arc.

He has twice as many single-digit scoring nights (18) this season than he did last year (nine), and he has been held to five points or fewer 11 times — one-third of the season — during a 2022-23 campaign that also saw him held out of Auburn’s game against Georgia State due to a “coach’s decision.” Lately, though, Johnson has turned things around offensively and provided a spark for a bench unit that has more often than not failed to lessen the scoring load on the Tigers’ starting five.

Over the last seven games, since Valentine’s Day, Johnson has scored at least 15 points three times, including a pair of 20-point performances — his only two of the season — coming in the Tigers’ last three games. Those came against two of Auburn’s toughest opponents of the year, on the road at top-ranked Alabama and in the SEC Tournament against Arkansas. During that stretch, Johnson is averaging 10.9 points per game and shooting 49 percent from the field while connecting on 13 of his 22 attempts from 3-point range (59.1 percent).

“He brings a lot to that (bench) unit because he can hit you in so many different ways,” Jasper said. “The way he scores the basketball, it’s pretty fun because he can hit you with the midrange. He can hit you with a step-back 3, drive at your chest. You just never know what you’re going to get out of K.D. Johnson on any night.”

RELATED: Chance Westry opens up about inner conflict during recovery from knee injury, his future at Auburn

As Johnson has enjoyed somewhat of an offensive resurgence for Auburn late in the season, the credit for his on-court upswing is owed to a concerted effort he has made behind the scenes in the practice gym. After struggling with his shot for much of the year, shooting just 35.3 percent overall and 25.3 percent from beyond the arc in his first 24 games, Johnson has worked to get more arc in his jumper.

It’s a small modification that has made a major difference for him.

“When you look at a lot of his misses, they’re short,” Auburn assistant Mike Burgomaster said. “Part of that is not getting the ball up and out. Coach Pearl even talks about that all the time, just trying to get more arc in his shot. If you’re going to miss it, don’t miss it short. When you see him shooting around before practice or when he gets in on his own, I think there’s a conscious effort to really try and get that arc up.”

A lot of it is simply using his legs more in his jump shot and relying less on his arms to do all the work. Again, it’s a small tweak but one that, after plenty of repetition in the practice gym, has become second nature to Johnson while paying big dividends in games.

“Now he’s really in rhythm,” Jasper said. “He’s really figured it out, and I got so much confidence in him.”

More importantly, Johnson has renewed confidence in himself on the floor.

“Just seeing the ball goes in gives you confidence leading into the game,” Johnson said. “Now I got a lot of confidence just shooting it and not thinking about anything else.”

Auburn hopes Johnson can keep it up and provide a spark off the bench as the program embarks on its second straight NCAA Tournament journey, which begins Thursday at 5:50 p.m. (TNT) against eighth-seeded Iowa in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.

“He hasn’t showed it all year, but he’s starting to show it when it matters now,” point guard Wendell Green Jr. said. “Hopefully we can just keep going being him and going behind the guys that have been rocking all year.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.