EAST LANSING -- An hour before Michigan State's game against Penn State on Thursday night, Kenny Kaminski was all by himself on the court, hoisting up shots.
By 11 p.m. that night, he would be alone at the top of the box score as the Spartans' leading scorer in a 82-67 win over the Nittany Lions.
Kenny Kaminski shot 83.3 percent from behind the arc against the Nittany Lions Thursday night for a career-high 19 points.
"With home games I have a little more resources then away games," said Kaminski, who scored a career-high 19 points in the win over Penn State. "We always have a shootaround four hours before a game and I never leave. I always just kind of chill and get my mind right, watch a little bit of film. Normally about 45 minutes before the team has to be out there, I just get a whole bunch of shots up by myself.
"It's just kind of a thing. I just try to get in the zone and try to build confidence."
But that doesn't mean it always happens. Over the past three Big Ten games, Kaminski has hit just 3-of-14.
"You know, it's funny," recalled Kaminski. "Denzel (Valentine) was sitting next to me on the bench (after warmups today). I had just got done shooting and I told him I was feeling pretty good today. And he says, 'Let me see something.'
"So I'm sitting there, just a little over half court on Penn State's bench. I just kind of throw it up and it goes off the backboard and I just look at him and say, 'Bro, I'm hot.' He said, 'I believe you bro.' It's just one of those kind of things. I just knew a couple hours before the game I was going to have a big night."
Valentine believed him so much that he fed Kaminski his first three 3-pointers of the night. Kaminski hit five straight 3s before missing his sixth and finished the game 7-of-9 from the field overall.
"Denzel has so much vision," Kaminski said. "It's incredible the way he can just find guys and find his shooters, find the scorers."
Kaminski was also reminded of what it's like to have Adreian Payne back on the court, sucking up defenders and creating more space to shoot.
Kaminski averages 5.3 points and 1.3 rebounds per game . His role and minutes increased when Branden Dawson suffered a broken hand prior to the Michigan loss on Jan.25.
"Everyone was getting Kenny the ball and Kenny made shots," head coach Tom Izzo said. "Denzel had a lot to do with that, too."
That's because he believed him, bro.
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