When senior guard Marcus Thornton and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell got in foul trouble Saturday against Jackson State, someone else needed to pick up the scoring slack.Thornton, the team’s leading scorer last season with 19.6 points per game, was on the bench for 22 minutes Saturday.And Mitchell, who averaged 14.7 points per game two years ago and sat out last season with a left leg injury, played only 25 minutes.But LSU found that scoring differential from an unusual source, sophomore guard Bo Spencer, who has taken a hold of the starting point guard position — for now.Despite Spencer’s career-high 21 points against Jackson State, LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson said the race between Spencer and freshman Chris Bass for the starting point guard job is still open.”Am I down on Chris? No,” Johnson said. “Chris didn’t play a lot [Saturday] because Bo played so well … that could be the same for any guy on this team.”But Spencer’s career-high point performance Saturday caught the attention of his teammates.”He’s the one that kept us in the game,” said senior center Chris Johnson. “He played like a real point guard [Saturday].”Spencer was a scoring threat in high school, averaging 26 points per game his senior year at Glen Oaks High School in Baton Rouge.He said he did a little bit of everything, from playing point guard to center, in high school.”I was really the tallest guy on my team,” Spencer said. “I was basically playing all positions. I was more of just a scorer.”Spencer served as senior Garrett Temple’s backup at point guard last season, averaging only 3.4 points and 15.8 minutes per game.He played in 30 games last season but only started three.”When I was recruited by [former] coach [John] Brady, they told me I was going to play behind Garrett,” Spencer said. “When Coach Johnson came in, he put [senior] Garrett [Temple] at the three position. It was a surprise, but then again, it really wasn’t a surprise because Garrett is really comfortable at the three.”Spencer played at least 20 minutes in nine of the first 10 games last season, but played 20 minutes in four of the last 20 games.”Last year was a crazy year,” Spencer said. “I don’t know if it was the coaching change or what … I guess the coaches just didn’t need me out there [last year].”Trent Johnson said Spencer made “good decisions” while running the offense against Jackson State.”I told him a long time ago, ‘You’re going to have opportunities, but when you have them just be ready to shoot it,'” Johnson said.While Spencer led the Tigers in scoring Saturday, he struggled facilitating offense for others, finishing with no assists and three turnovers.He said he isn’t worried about that statistic.”I could’ve had a lot more assists, but … they kept putting the ball on the floor, taking some assists away from me,” Spencer joked.Trent Johnson, who said after the Jackson State game he was    surprised Spencer had no assists, said Monday the lack of assists wasn’t a problem.”We got good shots,” Johnson said. “We got the ball where we needed to get it. Guys just didn’t make plays. It wasn’t like they weren’t distributing the ball and playing together.”Trent Johnson said he demands a lot out of his point guards because of how much control they have in his offensive and defensive systems.”[Spencer] is the one guy that, since I got here, hasn’t been able to breathe,” Trent Johnson said. “We’ve been on him constantly.”Spencer said Brady wasn’t on him as hard as Johnson was.”When I go home after a game, and I look back, I see why Coach Johnson is on me all the time,” Spencer said.