Former UNC Basketball Teammates No Longer Unbeaten This Season

Two multi-year UNC basketball players are part of the rotation for 6-1 Penn State.

UNC basketball players D'Marco Dunn and Puff Johnson / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Ex-Tar Heel reserve wing Puff Johnson is a full-time starter for the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1, 0-0 Big Ten) in his fifth season in college. And his 2021-23 UNC basketball teammate, now-senior guard D'Marco Dunn, is one of the Nittany Lions' first players off the bench.

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After finishing with a 16-17 record last season, they helped power a 6-0 start under second-year Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades this go-round before falling to Clemson, 75-67, in their Sunshine Slam championship clash in Daytona Beach, Fla., earlier this week.

Johnson, who averaged 3.1 points in 65 outings across his three-year UNC basketball career, is posting a career-high 10.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per contest this season. Plus, the 24-year-old, younger brother of former Tar Heel sensation and current Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson, has shot a career-best 54.0 percent from the field and 44.4 percent beyond the arc thus far.

Meanwhile, Dunn's 6.4 points per outing mark a slight drop from his average as a junior but still a big jump from his average of 1.9 points in 50 appearances across his two-season stay in Chapel Hill. And the 21-year-old, also a former four-star recruit, is chipping in 1.9 rebounds in his 15.0 minutes per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from deep, and 9-for-9 at the foul line.

D'Marco Dunn, Puff Johnson, and the Penn State Nittany Lions aim to bounce back from their loss to Clemson when they host the Buffalo Bulls at 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

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