• By MATT REYNOLDS
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 18, 2009 - Page: 1C

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Trent Johnson and the LSU Tigers solidified their holiday plans on Tuesday with a gritty 71-60 victory over Western Kentucky in the second round of the Dicks Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The victory sends the Tigers to New York City to continue the star-studded basketball tournament against perennial powerhouse Connecticut (3-0) at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 25. It will be determined today whether tip-off will be at 5 or 7 p.m. CST.

It will be the first time LSU has played in the NIT at Madison Square Garden since the legendary Pete Maravich led the Tigers to the postseason event in 1970.

“That was a good basketball team we played today,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “They returned the nucleus of a team that was a shot away from the NCAA tournament a year ago, so that’s a good win for us. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving than in New York City.”

Another big night from sophomore Storm Warren mixed with Bo Spencer finding his rhythm from the perimeter gave the Tigers the spark they needed to outlast the pesky Hilltoppers.

Warren’s fiery play produced his third double-double in as many games in the young season, scoring 20 points while pulling down 11 rebounds and blocking a shot.

“Storm’s improving,” Johnson said. “He and Bo (Spencer) both really stepped up and played.”

Spencer broke the Tigers drought from behind the 3-point line when he drained the first of his four 3-pointers on the evening midway through the first half. The junior topped the career-high he set just last week by scoring 28 points and grabbing seven rebounds against Western Kentucky (1-1). The point guard had 23 points against Louisiana-Monroe in the season opener.

“I thought they were going to stop the game and give us the ball after we hit that first perimeter jump shot,” Johnson said.

The Tigers struggled from behind the arc Monday night, shooting a forgettable 0-of-15 from 3-point-range. While the team only made 33.3 percent (5-of-15) of its 3-point attempts against the Hilltoppers, Spencer showed drastic improvement from the previous night when the junior was 0-of-5 for 3-point-attempts and four of 20 overall.

“I had a bad day shooting (Monday) (against Indiana State) and my coaches just told me to let the game come to me,” Spencer said. “In the second half I just started shooting the ball with more confidence and they started to fall.”

LSU (3-0) trailed 30-29 at halftime and had struggled to contain Hilltoppers guard Sergio Kerusch, who scalded the Tigers for 19 first-half points.

“We had a bad matchup in the first half,” Johnson said. “… Basically, we just put Tasmin (Mitchell) on him in the second half.”