At 6 feet 4 inches, Marcus Thornton probably wears about a size 12 or 13 shoe. His metaphorical “shoes,” however, after graduating and taking his 21.1 points per game with him, seem Shaq-sized. Tiger senior forward Tasmin Mitchell seems the logical heir filling a significant portion of Thornton’s void. But beyond that lies uncertainty.LSU’s next best option is junior point guard Bo Spencer, who scored 11.4 points per game and shot 40 percent from behind the 3-point line last season.”It’s going to be tough,” Spencer said of replacing Thornton’s scoring ability. “Marcus was a great scorer. Hopefully the offense coach [Trent Johnson] has put in will help. Me and Tasmin are going to be the primary scorers.”Spencer’s ascension to the team’s No. 2 scorer last season hit a snag when he nicked his wrist in a win at Kentucky Feb. 28. Spencer’s wrist ended up needing surgery during the summer.”Bo hasn’t had as productive a spring or summer as he would have liked,” Johnson said. “A lot of that has to do with the injury to his wrist.”Shortly after recovery, Spencer again suffered a setback. Spencer was walking up the steps to his apartment with pizza and iPhone in hand when he slipped.Trying to save both was a bad idea.The fall refractured Spencer’s wrist. But Spencer said his stumble only resulted in an avulsion fracture, which is similar to a sprain.”It was just like a sprained ankle, so it wasn’t as bad as anyone thought it was,” Spencer said. “I’m back playing now.”Johnson said Spencer should be fine for the season opener. “He’s good,” Johnson said. “He’s got a level of toughness and a level of competitiveness. He’ll be fine. When [trainer] Shawn [Eddy] says they can play and go full speed, that’s what I go off of.”Spencer, though not at 100 percent, is confident about his ability to fill any role needed. “I feel like I can step up to it,” Spencer said. “It’ll be pretty fun, but it’ll be hard at the same time.”The 6-foot-2-inch, 186-pounder came to LSU from Glen Oaks High School in Baton Rouge. Spencer was ranked as a Scout.com three-star recruit. He played for legendary coach Harvey Adger. Johnson said Spencer’s performance this season will be vital to the team’s chances of contending in the Southeastern Conference.”We’re going to have to do a lot of things differently than what we did offensively,” Johnson said. “He does understand that he’s going to have to be a lot better than he was last year in terms of running this basketball team and in terms of scoring, too.”Along with Thornton, LSU lost occasional scorers Chris Johnson and Garrett Temple. Both were known less for scoring and more for defense, but each averaged a little more than seven points per game. “We’re going to try to look at last year as a whole different team,” Spencer said. “We’re going to use that to boost our confidence, but we’re going to still have to find our own identity. We can’t live off last year’s identity. We’re working hard to find our own identity as a team.”The Tigers open the season Nov. 13 against Louisiana-Monroe in the PMAC.- – – -Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]