Penn State fifth-year senior Puff Johnson and freshman Hudson Ward are listed as out ahead of Monday’s game against Rutgers, per the Big Ten Availability Report.
Puff Johnson (hand) and Hudson Ward are both listed as OUT for tonight’s game against Rutgers. pic.twitter.com/3MrqFiUdMc
— Brennan Valladares (@Valladares7B) January 20, 2025
Johnson — who was averaging a career-high 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds — exited the first half of Wednesday’s game against No. 12 Michigan State with a right hand injury. Head coach Mike Rhoades told the media on Friday that Johnson is “still being evaluated by the doctors, but he’ll definitely be out for a while.”
In his absence during the Nittany Lions’ loss to the Spartans, senior guard D’Marco Dunn played extended minutes and scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Nick Kern Jr. will most likely start in the place of Johnson for the foreseeable future. Kern is averaging a career-high in points (12.4), rebounds (5.0) and assists (2.3). In his two starts this year, the former VCU Ram has averaged 16 points, 6.5 rebounds and three assists.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Ward has appeared in six games so far this season for Penn State, playing a total of 17 minutes. He has been out the last five games.
Penn State will look to end its four-game losing streak against Rutgers on Monday night. The last time these two teams played, it came down to the final moments as the Nittany Lions came back from down 17 to make it a two-point game with under two minutes left.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday. The game will be streaming on Peacock.
