Lisicky says goodbye to Lion hoops

NEW YORK -- When Pete Lisicky got to the locker room it hit him -- his career at Penn State was over. First there were tears, but then the smile returned.

So what will Lisicky, a man who lived Penn State basketball for the past four years, do on his first day off?

During the game, the Gophers did everything in their power to keep the ball out of Lisicky's hands and prevent Penn State's second all-time leading scorer from making them another victim.

Minnesota did that and more. They held Lisicky to 11 points, four below his average, and kept the shooting guard frustrated all night with both zone and man-to-man defenses.

"I was forcing some (shots)," Lisicky said. "They were playing me tough. (Kevin) Clark, he's a tough player. He knows what we are trying to do as my offensive game goes."

Then again, so did every other team the Lions have faced in the last two years. But most weren't as fortunate as the Gophers and Lisicky killed them anyway. Last night, there were just too many forces aligned against him.

First, he and the rest of the Penn State team were without forward Jarrett Stephens, who injured his knee Tuesday against Georgia. Lisicky wouldn't use Stephens' absence as an excuse, but it obviously hurt him.

"I think I was well enough to play," Lisicky said. "Let's just say I was a little tired."

Nowhere was this more evident than on the foul line. Lisicky, who was shooting 91 percent from the line before last night, missed three free throws.

While Lisicky may have not been his normal self from the line or from beyond the 3-point line, where he was 3 for 8, he did have a good night in other areas. He had five rebounds, five assists and one block.

"I tried to talk trash after I made it," Lisicky joked to his father and Penn State assistant Chuck Swenson about the block, "but I didn't know what to say."

That's what Dunn felt like when asked to sum up what Lisicky has meant to the Penn State basketball program.

"I'm not sure if I do justice at all in terms of adjectives to what Pete has meant to this program," Dunn said.

Here's a short list of what he's accomplished in the last four years:

He is second all-time at Penn State with 1,605 points.

He is eighth all-time in assists with 291.

He is the all-time leader in free throw percentage (87 percent), 3-pointers made (332) and 3-pointers attempted (829).

"I think I've made more than a difference at Penn State," Lisicky said. "When people think of Penn State basketball they think of Calvin Booth, Danny Earl and me."