UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State basketball will be without Puff Johnson for the 12th straight game as it celebrates Senior Day against No. 16 Maryland (Noon EST, BTN).
Head coach Mike Rhoades unofficially ruled Johnson out for the rest of the season on Feb. 17. When asked if it was fair to assume the fifth-year senior would not play the rest of the year, Rhoades said, “Yes. Yeah, you are correct on that.
“The number one thing I said in the summer was we got to stay healthy. We all knew that and losing him really hurts. But, you know, other teams lose guys too. So, I’m not making excuses, but we really miss him.”
Johnson was having a breakout season, averaging a career-high in points (10.2), rebounds (4.4), and field-goal percentage (54.3%).
Johnson and the four other seniors — Ace Baldwin Jr., Nick Kern Jr., Zach Hicks and D’Marco Dunn — will be honored pregame as part of the Senior Day celebrations.
This is the first and only matchup between Penn State basketball and Maryland. The Terrapins come into Saturday’s game after a buzzer-beating loss to No. 8 Michigan State on Wednesday. PSU, meanwhile, lost on the road to Indiana, ending its two-game winning streak.
