The semester may be complete, but the season is just starting for the LSU men’s basketball team.The Tigers are off to a 6-0 start, their first since the 2003-2004 season.LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson has energized the Tigers in his first season in Baton Rouge after a 13-18 record last season.Johnson led Stanford and Nevada to the Sweet 16 and won 159 games in nine seasons before his first at LSU.He has amped up the Tigers’ defense this season, pushing them to second in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense at 58 points per game as of Thursday.Johnson said his team prides itself on defense.”It has to be our identity, rebounding and taking care of the ball,” Johnson said. “Good teams, that’s their identity.”The players have bought into Johnson’s defensive focus — they preach defense at every media session and after every game.”That’s what wins championships,” said junior forward Tasmin Mitchell. “I know we haven’t won a championship yet, but I think we’re well on our way on to one.”Mitchell has returned to the starting lineup for the Tigers after missing last season with a left shin injury.He has averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in six games this season and said he is completely back and ready for the long season.”I feel 100 percent right now,” Mitchell said.One thing that has stayed the same from last season is senior guard Marcus Thornton’s scoring.Thornton has picked up where he left off last season, when he was the Southeastern Conference’s second-leading scorer with 19.6 points per game.He has scored 20 or more points in three of LSU’s six games and is averaging a team-leading 17.2 points per game this season.”I’m feeling better in the offense,” Thornton said. “The offense is designed to get people open shots. We’re just running it to perfection.”It appeared long before the season started that senior Garrett Temple would retain his starting point guard spot from a year ago.But sophomore Bo Spencer has started every game at the position, averaging 12 points and 2.5 assists per game.Spencer made headlines in the first game this season against Jackson State with a career-high 21-point performance.But his scoring performance has leveled off since the Jackson State contest.Spencer’s best output since then is 13 points — once against Troy on Nov. 30, and the other against Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 2.He said he isn’t expecting to light up the scoreboard every night.”I expect to be a point guard, to be a playmaker,” Spencer said. “If it happens that I score 21 [points] every night, if I score 10 [points] every night, if I score five [points] every night, it’s just whatever’s good to get a [win].”Temple is now playing alongside Spencer at shooting guard, leading the team in assists at 4.2 per game.Temple said the switch hasn’t been difficult for him.”It’s not that much different, the two and the three,” he said. “I’m enjoying it.”The Tigers have spent all of the season at home so far and will continue to do so during the break.LSU plays nine games during the break, six of which are at home.”One of the reasons we wanted to have as many home games as possible non-conference were because of our injuries and academic situation,” Johnson said. “We really have to do a good job in the classroom.”The home schedule sets itself up favorably for a team predicted to finish second in the SEC West behind Alabama.But Johnson isn’t worried about outside predictions. He’s only focused on the on-court reality.”We’re going to defend. We’re going to rebound. We’re going to take care of the ball,” Johnson said. “We’re going to compete at a high level and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”LSU’s next game is against Grambling on Dec. 13 in the PMAC.—-Contact Robert Stuart at [email protected]