2/13/2017 basketball Edit

Spencer will miss remainder of season

Bryan Matthews • AuburnSports

Senior Editor

AUBURN | Horace Spencer’s sophomore season has ended.

Auburn’s forward, who missed the previous three games after injuring his left shoulder late against Tennessee Jan. 31, will undergo surgery Thursday and miss the remainder of the season.

It's his second major injury in the past year.

"Health has been an issue now for Horace," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "After his first year he was out four months with a knee. He's going to be out four months with a shoulder. That's tough. You need that offseason and he didn't have that last season. When we were expecting, and we should, what's Horace going to be like as a sophomore? He had no chance to train. We didn't get him until mid-September. Then he's coming off a knee injury so he's really not quite back to where he was and now with his shoulder.

"We miss the stability and we miss his toughness and we miss our brother."

Spencer will miss the rest of his sophomore season due to a shoulder injury. (Dakota Sumpter/Auburn athletics)

Spencer has started 12 games and was averaging 4.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He leads the team with 28 blocked shots.

In five games after moving from center to power forward against LSU Jan. 18, Spencer averaged 4.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

"Horace is one of our toughest players and he's a fighter and he's not afraid. He's a really good teammate. Horace has got a little bit of mother hen and he's got a little bit of big brother in him. He's a bit of a protector," Pearl said.

It’s the second injury that has befallen an Auburn player this season. Danjel Purifoy missed three games with an ankle injury and averaged just 3.5 points in the four games after he returned.

Pearl has dealt with injury issues in his three seasons at Auburn. Tahj Shamsid-Deen missed the final 11 games of the 2014-15 season after undergoing surgeries on both shoulders and then played just five games last season before having to give up his career due to recurring shoulder issues.

T.J. Dunans missed 15 games last season with a knee injury.

Auburn, 16-9 overall and 5-7 in the SEC, hosts Florida Tuesday night at 6 p. m. CT on the SEC Network.