Junior point guard Bo Spencer may have to wait a little longer to play after making an early exit in the Big Apple last week.”I don’t know if he’s going to play,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “If he shows he has ability to pass and cut to my liking, and to Sean Eddy, our trainer, and our medical people, then he’ll play.”Spencer’s ankle injury last week against No. 13 Connecticut was just one in a series of setbacks for LSU (3-2) at the NIT Season Tip-off in New York City. The Tigers suffered through depth and foul problems against UConn and Arizona State and dropped double-digit losses in each game.”It wasn’t a very good week … This is a group that don’t like losing, especially in that kind of setting,” Johnson said. “In these national TV games, you can’t hide … Stats don’t lie.”If Spencer is unavailable to play tonight against Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3), fans can expect to see more of walk-on sophomore guard Zach Kinsley, who got his first collegiate start on the floor of Madison Square Garden last week.”During practice Coach called it the basketball Mecca, and that’s what it was,” Kinsley said. “It was unbelievable to play in there.”Kinsley shot three-of-four from 3-point range, notching a career-high 14 points.That and several other pleasantries, like eating Thanksgiving dinner with ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, made the holiday unique but disappointing for the Tigers.”It was a great experience, but I didn’t enjoy the trip very well because we lost — I guess that’s just me,” said senior forward Tasmin Mitchell. “I didn’t enjoy it like I wanted to … but the people that were there, the place we played in, the town we were in, you couldn’t beat it.”With primetime games behind them for now, the Tigers turn their attention to the Ragin’ Cajuns, a group that pushed LSU to the brink last New Year’s Eve in an 81-79 loss.”We struggled, and we were very lucky to beat [UL-Lafayette] last year,” Johnson said. “It’s important that we come out tomorrow and that we play well — that we play like we’re capable of.”Johnson faces many of the same problems if Spencer is unable to play tonight. LSU’s frontcourt of sophomore forwards Storm Warren and Garrett Green and freshman forward Dennis Harris found itself in early foul trouble against UConn.”Whether they intimidated us or whatever, I just didn’t like our lack of aggression and our overall constant effort in terms of sprinting back,” Johnson said.The Tigers jumped out to a seven-point halftime lead against Arizona State, but the offense couldn’t maintain a rhythm and shot 20 percent from the field in the second half.”We played probably as good a half of basketball versus Arizona State as we have all year,” Johnson said. “In the second half we got away from what we did in the first half — there were some shots that were there that didn’t go down.”The Ragin’ Cajuns are trying to end a two-game skid after falling one basket short against McNeese State on Saturday. Senior forward Tyren Johnson and senior guard Randell Daigle lead the team in scoring with each notching 13.8 points per game.Tonight is the first of a five-game homestand for LSU, although it is the last time the Tigers will take the court until after final exams. LSU plays 11 games during the winter break, including its first three Southeastern Conference games.–Contact David Helman at [email protected]