LSU sophomore guard Bo Spencer found it hard to stomach sitting on the sidelines and watching the LSU men’s basketball team’s last two games. “I was sick just watching them play,” Spencer said. So when the Baton Rouge native made his return to the starting lineup Saturday when No. 23 LSU hosted Auburn at the PMAC, he hoped to feel good. “I knew I was going to be tired because I hadn’t been running and was going to be out of shape, but it felt good to be back out there,” Spencer said. And he looked good in his return – Spencer finished with 14 points to help LSU claw out a victory, 79-72. Spencer began the game hitting his first three shots and finished the first half with 9 points. “[Senior guard] Garrett [Temple] told me after one shot, ‘You’re back,'” Spencer said. Temple said it was definitely beneficial having Spencer back in the lineup. “Without him teams tend to pressure us more, and our guys have to switch up their roles,” Temple said. LSU coach Trent Johnson said Spencer put the Tigers back into a rhythm. “He was able to back them off initially because to start the game we couldn’t stop them from scoring,” Johnson said. “Bo’s ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter really helped us tonight.” All five LSU starters reached double figures and combined for all but two of the Tigers’ points. Senior guard Marcus Thornton had 25 points and seven rebounds. What has been weakness for LSU in recent games was a strength in this one – The Tigers shot 95.5 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 21-of-22 free throws. LSU hadn’t shot more than 80 percent since its 76-62 win against Alabama on Feb. 8. “That’s the good thing about this group,” Johnson said. “When they don’t have success in every facet of the game, they address it themselves by making a conscious effort at practice and at shootaround to hit free throws.” Auburn didn’t share LSU’s accuracy from the line, shooting just 53.8 percent for the game. “Free throws have been hurting us all season,” said Auburn junior guard Tay Waller, who finished with 17 points. “Coach [Jeff Lebo] said we have to hit free throws to win games, and we didn’t hit them. That really hurt us down the stretch, and that’s what cost us the game.”
 
 
 
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Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]