After Penn State basketball nearly upset No. 2 Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center Tuesday night, coach Mike Rhoades gave an update on the team’s best player.
Kayden Mingo missed the game with an injury, and unfortunately for Penn State, it won’t be the only game the true freshman guard will “be out for a little bit.”
It’s not yet clear what Rhoades meant by “a little bit,” but in any case, Penn State wants Mingo back as soon as possible.
Mingo leads Penn State in every major statistical category besides blocks.
He averages nearly 15 points per game, nearly four rebounds per game, 4.5 assists per game and a Big Ten-leading 2.5 steals per game.
It wasn’t apparent that Mingo was injured until he showed up on the Big Ten’s availability report hours before Tuesday’s game.
Daniel Gallen of Lions247 reported that Mingo got hurt during Monday’s practice. No other specifics are available at this time.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Mingo’s play has impressed plenty, including the Dean of Big Ten coaches.
“Yeah, I’m a Mingo fan,” Tom Izzo said after Michigan State’s close win over Penn State last month. “He just keeps his tail here and does his job and he is going to be a fan favorite here because he can do a lot of different things. He seems to have great intelligence and he’s a competitor. For a freshman 11 games in, that’s pretty good, man.”
Of course, Mingo’s head coach is impressed with him, too.
“He’s going to make plays for us,” Rhoades said in December. “He’s only going to get better. He’s really hard on himself to get better. … I wish he wasn’t, but usually the good ones are. But he’s continually understanding what needs to be done to try to win college basketball games.”
The road doesn’t get easier for Penn State. It’s next game is Saturday at No. 5 Purdue— which started the season ranked No. 1 and, like Michigan, might be the best team in the country.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 on the Big Ten Network.
