Tag Archives: Bo Spencer
The Dust Settles and LSU Basketball is #17
What a season for the Tigers! This year’s team surpassed all preseason expectations and played with a new attitude, thanks to 1st year LSU coach, Trent Johnson. The Tigers had the best conference record in SEC (13-3) winning game after game down the stretch. Only SEC losses were the first game at Alabama and the last two against Vanderbilt and at Auburn. We will even admit here that when the season kicked off, we knew we had some talent and exciting players, but we didn’t think LSU would have the season they did.
The Tigers relied on the offense of Marcus Thornton, Bo Spencer, and Tasmin Mitchell. The bulk of the defense was left up to Garrett Temple and Chris Johnson. All of which except for Spencer and Mitchell, are leaving LSU as seniors. It should be noted that Tasmin Mitchell is testing the NBA waters, but has not hired an agent, leaving a return to the Tigers as an option.
Anyway, back to my thought; the Tigers were very shallow and inexperienced on the bench this year and the above five guys would have to carry the weight of the team most of the way if they were going to do something special. Much to Tiger fans’ surprise, that’s exactly what they did. Night in and night out, the tigers found a way to win games and won the SEC conference title. Awards were passed out (Thornton-SEC Player of the Year, T. Johnson-SEC Coach of the Year, Mitchell-1st Team SEC, Temple and C. Johnson-2nd team SEC) and LSU got ready for what was next.
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LSU holds on to beat Arkansas, 79-69
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LSU came out on fire in this one. The Tigers jumped out to a 25-8 lead with around 8 minutes to play in the first half. This was led by smothering defense, steals, blocks, rebounds, as well as great shooting. Arkansas was unable to get anything going at all in the first. LSU was in complete control on a day that honored LSU’s greatest over the last 100 years, beginning with a pick up game of sorts played by former Tigers.
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LSU Picks Up HUGE Road Win
First off, I want to apologize for my lack of writing an article after the Xavier game. I was out of town in Houston listening to the legendary Dr. James Andrews lecture on the shoulder. Secondly, I don’t remember the last time I’ve cursed so much watching a sporting event. This game had everything you could ask for. LSU took a 2-0 lead to start the game and pretty much dominated the first half. Through the first 9 minutes of the game, LSU was 10-14 from the field and 3-6 from three point land. The refs in this game were definitely bi-polar. The first half you could draw blood and no foul would be called only to blink and a foul would be called on you in the second half. LSU took a 43-38 lead at the half.
The second half was 10 times more exciting. LSU had a 14 point lead at one point only to go ice cold for about a 6 minute period. The only way LSU stayed in the game during that span was thanks to a Bruce Pearl technical foul. The last 3 minutes of the game was a possession difference. With less than one minute left LSU hit the free throws when it counted to go on for the 79-73 victory. Marcus Thorton continued his red hot scoring with 29 points. Bo Spencer played exceptional scoring 15, and Chris Johnson was probably the player of the game with a double double 14/14, but had several key blocks when it counted. LSU shot a respectable 47.5% from the field and 80% from the stripe (16-20). The memorable moment of the game that really stood out to me was when LSU was down by 2 with less than 5 minutes left and the camera showed Trent Johnson on the bench, who was cooler than the other side of the pillow. I was on my treadmill running at a mock 3 pace cursing up a storm, and I read Trent Johnson’s lips and he said “calm down” to his players. Right then and there I knew had John Brady been coaching this team, we would have lost by 10, but Coach Johnson has the cool demeanor to not only calm his players down, but also the crazy fans. Terry Martin had 4 points for the only bench points. Freshmen Delwan Graham and Storm Warren played some good minutes and I’m glad they did. They got a chance to experience what it’s like to be in the fire at a quality SEC opponents house. This was a huge win for LSU that might come back and help them come “dancing” time. LSU (16-4, 4-1) returns home to play Arkansas at 4, and we need the PMAC to be rock’in againn!!!!!
LSU Road “Woes” Continue
LSU coming off an embarrassing 30 point loss to Utah continued their road struggles as they lose the SEC opener to Alabama 65-59. LSU never had the lead in this game and still haven’t won a game in Tuscaloserville since 2004. With LSU (12-3, 0-1) in foul trouble the entire game, the bench did nothing to contribute offensively. Quintin Thorton was the lone bench player to score with 2 points. Tasmin Mitchell was called with 2 fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game and sat the rest of the first half. This game was a very physical, foul happy, contest. If a player farted they were called with a foul. This is a funny stat to me, Alex Farrer, LSU’s “white knight” received 7 minutes of playing time and fouled out with as many points as you or I, 0 points.
The first half was filled with sloppy shooting by LSU with them shooting 31% from the field. Alabama shot 43% from the field and took a 6 point lead (30-24) going to the locker room. The second half was filled with more offense. LSU was lead in scoring by Marcus Thorton with 21 points. Bo Spencer and Tasmin Mitchell both had 10. Chris Johnson led the Tigers in rebounding with 10. Alabama was led in scoring by Senario Hillman with 24. The game was very close going into the closing minutes. The deficit became as many as 9 with 11 minutes left. LSU cut the lead to 2 at the 3:30 mark and had a chance to tie the game. This is the play of the game for Alabama, and if LSU misses the NCAA tournament by one game, so far this will be the play that cost them……Marcus Thorton had the ball in the front court trying to tie the game and he was raped, murdered, felt up, what ever you want to call it, and the officials in a foul happy contest let the ball go and Alabama scored on the break away. That pretty much took the wind out of LSU’s sail. LSU returns home to play a tough South Carolina opponent Wednesday night at the PMAC. South Carolina is 12-2 on the year and beat Auburn yesterday 68-56. This tiger fan is eager to see how the team will respond at home after suffering 2 straight road losses.
LSU Tigers Embarassed in Last “Warmup Game” at Utah Before SEC Play Begins
The Tigers simply couldn’t get it done in Utah tonight. In fact, they didn’t get much of anything done as the Utes took care of the Tigers, handing them the worst loss in….. well can anyone remember the last time the Tiger lost by 30?! And don’t say this year against Tebow and the Gators…… But, that’s right, LSU went down in Provo 91-61. And just so you know, since I had to look it up, it really wasn’t as long ago as I had thought that the Tigers lost by such a deficit….. Jan 22, 2005 at Kentucky (89-58). Anyway….
Well, let’s try and analyze it. Garrett Temple scored as many as I did. Terry Martin had 3 and Alex Farrer put in 2. I must say that I’m baffled as to why Farrer started in the place of Marcus Thornton tonight. But I guess since the game wasn’t on TV and I was unable to attend the pre-game locker room speech, I may never know, but it happened. Thornton came off the bench to score 17 in 22 minutes. It appears that he was in some foul trouble (4) because Bo Spencer played 30 minutes off the bench and scored seven. Tasmin Mitchell and Chris Johnson contributed a little bit scoring 14 and 13 respectively. But where was the defense?!?!
The Tigers were out rebounded 33-24. Also, Utah has a center from Australia who is 7’2″, 265lbs. Well as you may have guessed, he went 11-13 and scored 23 points with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. We obviously couldn’t stop him, probably because he outweighed his LSU counterpart (Johnson) by 55 lbs, but we didn’t try to foul him either…..he only took two free throws on the night, of which he only made 1. The Utes had another player score 17 and two others score 13 each. Three other players contributed 8, 7, and 6 points.
LSU Dominates Last Cupcake Game
Ok, so they still have Utah left on Tuesday before SEC starts a week from Sunday, but I’m pretty much counting that as a tough game because it’s on the road at a good opponent. Utah is coming off a big win against a top 25 Gonzaga and this game will be a really good test before Alabama on the 11th. LSU dominated the second half out scoring Southeastern 51-30 on their way to a 90-61 victory. This was LSU’s 74th win in a row against a Louisiana school at the PMAC improving their current record to 12-1. Marcus Thornton led LSU with 33 points hitting 4 of 7 from three point land. Tazmin Mitchell scored 24 and sophomore sensation Bo Spencer had 17.
The biggest disappointment of the season so far, and who probably has the most talent of any Tiger on the team, Chris Johnson only had 2 points. He was 0-4 from the floor and 2-4 from the stripe. In my opinion he is gonna be the key to the season. If he can get it going, which I think he will, the Tigers will do some definite damage in the SEC this year. The tigers need to pick it up from the free throw line if their gonna be competitive in the conference. Tonight they were 21 for 34 for a miserable 62%. To win SEC games they need to drastically improve!! The bench also needs to pick it up. Freshmen Storm Warren, Bass, and Grahm have had 13 games to get their feet wet and need to really pick it up. Quinton Thorton seems to be the only reliable Tiger off the bench. Tonight he scored 6 points but LED the Tigers in rebounds with 8 and is very physical down underneath. Overall, good effort tonight by the Tigers and really think this team is close to clicking, if not, then baseball season is right around the corner!!
LSUPOOP
