Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/214434
W LUCAS AT LARGE BY MIKE LUCAS // UWBADGERS.COM Frank was feeling it on way to record night 14 isconsin's Frank Kaminsky previously experienced the "feeling" ― the feeling of being in a zone as a shooter ― prior to a 2013 Big Ten game at Indiana. "To be completely honest, I said in warm-ups I was feeling it," recalled Kaminsky, who knocked down his first two 3-pointers in just three minutes of playing time. "Then I got my eye scratched." The injury put Kaminsky on the sideline for the remainder of a 64-59 win over the Hoosiers in Bloomington and sidelined him for two more games before he finally returned to action. Kaminsky got that "feeling" again Tuesday night against North Dakota at the Kohl Center. This time, he finished what he started and wound up breaking the Badgers' singlegame scoring record with 43 points. "Every shot felt great ― you feel like every shot is going to fall," said Kaminsky who was 16-for-19, including 6-of-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. "It's been like this in practice, but never in a game here." It was the most points that Kaminsky had scored since his junior year of high school when he led Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.) to an 80-70 win over Glenbard North in a regional semifinal. He had 39. Before facing North Dakota, he was averaging 3.2 points in 70 career games at Wisconsin. His previous high was 19. But he was coming off a second-half "high" at Green Bay. By his own admission, he was a no-show in the first half with just // VARSITY November 21, 2013 two points and one rebound. It led to some introspection given that he has been challenged to play a much bigger role this season. "I was sitting there on the bench at the start of the second half," said Kaminsky, "thinking, 'I've got to do way better than this, I know I'm better than this."' He went out and proved it by scoring 14 points and pulling down seven rebounds. He also had a key blocked shot in the final seconds that helped Wisconsin seal a hardearned road win. Kaminsky rode that momentum into the North Dakota game. "I said, 'I'm going to attack, I'm not going to wait for it to come to me, I'm going to go and get it,"' he recounted. This all came on the heels of a couple of conversations that he had with his parents, Mary and Frank Kaminsky. Mom exceled in volleyball, dad in basketball. They know what they're talking about. "They both said, 'You look like you're waiting for the game to come to you,"' said Kaminsky, who added that his mother encouraged him "to be the aggressor," which he was on Tuesday night. UW junior guard Josh Gasser loved what he was seeing out of Kaminsky. "He kept getting exactly what he wanted," he said, "and the crowd kept getting more and more into it."' The UW students began serenading Kaminsky with "Frank the Tank" chants ― Will Ferrell was Frank "the Tank" Ricard in the 2003 movie Old School ― and it definitely got his attention. "That takes me back to high school," Kaminsky said. "That's what they used to chant, no matter what happened, whether I was having a good or bad game. I thought it was hilarious." The Kohl Center was obviously in his corner ― "It was really nice seeing all those people pulling for me," Kaminsky said ― and so was UW coach Bo Ryan, who wanted to give him a shot at the record. During his senior year at Wilkes College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), Ryan scored 43 points against Susquehanna. He was 18-of-25 from the field and 7-of-7 from the stripe. There was no 3-point line. Ryan fell short of the single-game record. His late father, Butch, never let Wilkes coach Ron Rainey forget about it for taking his son out of the game with time remaining. Deja-Bo, all over again? Ryan made sure Kaminsky got one more possession Tuesday, and he capitalized with a drive to the rim and a finger roll with his left hand. "I wanted to dunk it," he said. "That's what I wanted to do." In breaking a record that was shared by Kenny Barnes and Michael Finley, both of whom had scored 42 points, Kaminsky has bolstered the confidence of everyone in the locker room. "It's good to see hard work pay off," Gasser said. "We have veteran guards, we have Sam (Dekker) on the wing and to see him, a 7-footer, going to work and being so efficient, is exactly what we need." Old school production.