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Kaminski steps up as MSU pounds Penn State

Feb 7, 2014 - 5:54 AM East Lansing, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - One of these days Michigan State is going to be fully healthy.

Thursday wasn't one of those days, but the ninth-ranked Spartans, behind 19 points from freshman Kenny Kaminski and a dozen 3-pointers, nonetheless had plenty of firepower to manhandle Penn State 82-67 at the Breslin Center.

Kaminski shot 7-of-9 from the field and made all but one of his six 3-point attempts. Adreian Payne played for the first time since Jan. 7 and chipped in with 12 points and Gary Harris had 14 in the lopsided win.

The Spartans (20-3, 9-1 Big Ten) were without star guard Keith Appling because of an injured wrist. Travis Trice got the start in Appling's place and recorded seven assists with no turnovers.

"All in all, we have 22 assists on 28 baskets. I thought we did a great job," summed up MSU head coach Tom Izzo.

Tim Frazier and D.J. Newbill carried the Nittany Lions (12-11, 3-7) with 22 and 17 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough to extend the team's three- game winning streak.

Frazier set Penn State's all-time assists mark, but the record was one of the few bright spots as Michigan State led wire-to-wire.

"I need to do a better job of preparing them to play a team like Michigan State," Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers said.

The Spartans, fresh off a loss to Georgetown on Saturday, held a comfortable 22-8 lead less than 10 minutes in, and a 3-pointer from Denzel Valentine, followed by a three-point play off Matt Costello's dunk in the final minute gave the Spartans a 46-30 cushion at halftime.

Harris, who missed eight of his first nine shots, nailed a jumper to push the margin to 55-34 early in the second half, then combined with Kaminski on consecutive 3-pointers to counter an 8-0 PSU run.

Harris' triple gave the Spartans a 64-44 advantage with 12 minutes to play, and the hosts cruised from there.

Game Notes

Payne missed the previous seven games with a right foot sprain ... Michigan State has 14 20-win seasons in the last 17 years ... Kaminski's previous high was 15 points against Minnesota on Jan. 11 ... Michigan State improved to 20-1 against Penn State in East Lansing ... The Spartans connected on 46.7 percent from the field against a Penn State team that held its previous four opponents to a combined 37 percent shooting ...With his second assist, Frazier surpassed Freddie Barnes' 600 career assists at Penn State.