LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson said he was disappointed with his team’s lack of energy against Jackson State on Saturday.”We went over against Tulane and New Orleans and played them [in scrimmages] in game-like conditions plus two 10-minute quarters and competed really hard,” Johnson said. “All of a sudden, we come back over here and turn the lights on. It’s got to be a habit to where you compete regardless of who’s in the stands.”LSU (1-0) turns the lights back on at 7 p.m. tonight against Alcorn State (2-0) in the LSU Invitational in the PMAC.Troy and Centenary play the first game of the tournament at 4:30 p.m.The Tigers’ game against Jackson State was closer than expected. Jackson State led six times in the first half and was tied with LSU at 39 at halftime.LSU allowed eight offensive rebounds to Jackson State in the first 20 minutes alone.Johnson said his team had some breakdowns in the first frame.”It wasn’t as much effort as it was intensity, and that’s a fine line for the untrained eye,” Johnson said. “When I talk about intensity with this group, I’m talking about from start to finish. They’ve got to sustain that, and whoever is on the court has to compete, but it wasn’t because of lack of effort.”Sophomore guard Bo Spencer said LSU can’t come out sluggish against Alcorn State like it did against Jackson State.”Coach watched the film, and he came in saying how we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and how we all have to crash the boards on the defensive end,” Spencer said. “We have to come out like we’re holding grudges and be able to compete.”Johnson said he was happy with his team’s Monday practice after saying Saturday his team practiced sluggishly toward the end of last week.”Hopefully there is some carry over because I do believe this basketball team will play like they practice,” Johnson said. “Hopefully they understand that now.”One other glaring statistic from Saturday’s game was senior guard Marcus Thornton’s shooting performance.Thornton shot 1-of-9 from the floor and had five points in the game.Johnson said he isn’t worried about Thornton’s poor shooting performance.”I told him that he’s going to be [1-for-9] a lot because good teams aren’t going to let him score,” Johnson said. “The thing that bothers me is that defensively he was out of position and gambled.”Thornton and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell got in foul trouble, each collecting their fourth foul early in the second half.Senior center Chris Johnson took over in the post, scoring 17 points and collecting seven rebounds in the game.”Marcus was struggling, especially with the fouls, and the shots weren’t falling,” Chris Johnson said. “Someone had to step up and help the team, and that’s what happened.”Senior guard Garrett Temple didn’t score any points against Jackson State.Trent Johnson said Temple is still adjusting to switching from point guard to shooting guard. “There is some rust there in terms of the new position,” Johnson said. “The ball is not in his hands as much. I’m not worried about that.”LSU follows up tonight’s game with a 2 p.m. matchup against    Northwestern State on Sunday.—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]