Penn State men’s basketball didn’t just lose a game when it fell to Michigan State 90-85 on Wednesday night.

Senior guard and forward Puff Johnson suffered a right-hand injury that sidelined him for the rest of the evening. On Friday, head coach Mike Rhoades said Johnson was still being evaluated and didn’t give a timetable for his return.

Johnson’s injury couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. He was in the middle of the best season of his career, statistically, with career highs in points per game (10.7), field goal percentage (54.3%), free throw percentage (81%), and steals (23). His team is also in the middle of a four-game losing streak, is 2-5 in Big Ten play, and is on the outside looking in for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Johnson’s contribution on the stat sheet will be missed, but his leadership and voice on the court will be missed more.

“The seniors got to step up and use their voice. That’s the one thing that has to change is you’ve got to have more talk out there,” Rhoades said. “Ace [Baldwin Jr.] runs the huddles, but when it’s in live action, everybody needs to do their part of talking. Puff is a great talker and communicator out there, and that’s a void that guys have to step up and fill, for sure.”

Guard D’Marco Dunn said it hurts to see Johnson miss time, citing Johnson’s leadership skills. However, Dunn also said the team has a next-man-up mentality, which Rhoades agreed with. Rhoades named forwards Kachi Nzeh and Zach Hicks and guard Nick Kern Jr. as potential players to fill Johnson’s role on the hardwood.

“I hate to say it like this because of how valuable Puff is to us, but everybody goes through this next-man-up mentality. We play different ways and different guys so guys are familiar with what we have to do,” Rhoades said.

Johnson isn’t the only Nittany Lion dealing with an injury. Baldwin has been dealing with a back injury that sidelined him in the loss to Oregon, but he managed to play against Michigan State where he dropped 20 points on 4-for-8 shooting, nine assists, and three rebounds.

“He’s a warrior,” Rhoades said. “In all my years, I’ve never coached anyone that deals with injuries or has the pain tolerance of him, and I’ve been around him now for five years. He could play when others wouldn’t even give it a try. He can push through some things when other guys would quit.”

Even with the impressive stat line, Baldwin had some rough moments. One of the biggest contributors to the loss to the Spartans was turnovers. In that game, Baldwin tied his season-high of six giveaways.

“I thought he had some great moments in that game, but he also had some moments where he was uncomfortable,” Rhoades said. “Justin [Pomar] has done a great job, and our medical staff working with him and helping him to get him as best we can for game day.”

Penn State’s next game is at home against Rutgers on Monday night. Luckily for the banged-up Nittany Lions, there was a four-day break between playing Michigan State and the Scarlet Knights. And with a tough conference schedule and no long breaks on the horizon, Rhoades and his team will try and make the most of each day off.

“The Big Ten schedule is brutal,” Rhoades said. “The month of January is brutal for us. There’s not a lot of days off, so having yesterday off and we’ll go into this weekend, we could have maybe some longer practices and really lock into some of the things we’re going to address and emphasize.”