AUBURN, Ala. – How do you define toughness?
"Being able to play through fatigue, pain and some injuries," Auburn senior Horace Spencer said. "Being able to perform at your best when you're not at your best."
There might not be a tougher player in the SEC than Spencer. Just go back to the Kentucky game a few weeks back. There's Spencer standing on the sideline with blood streaming down his face. He just took a hard foul as he went up for a dunk late in the game, and his head slammed against the floor. He was in pain. He needed stitches. And all he could think about was how he was going to get his two points.
The free throws following the foul were taken and made by fellow senior Bryce Brown as Spencer was getting stitched up in the locker room. But at the next dead ball, Spencer checked back into the game stitched up and wearing a different jersey with no blood on it. And on the next possession, he knocked down a jumper to cut the Kentucky lead to two.
Spencer got his two points.
"Knowing Horace personally, I knew that wasn't going to stop him," fellow senior Bryce Brown said. "I don't know what can stop Horace, honestly. He's just such a tough dude. We already knew that wasn't going to be it for him. It was just good to see him fight through that. We all know what he can do. That wasn't going to stop him."
Spencer isn't the most talented player on the team. He's not likely to go off for 25 points in a game. He's currently averaging 4.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. But when he's on the floor, good luck finding a player who gives more effort.
This year, in particular, there's been a new sense of urgency given that Spencer is a senior.
"I've been counting down the games that I have left at Auburn," he said. "I might as well go out with a bang every game I possibly can and give it my best no matter what. So I just try to come on the court and be that force of nature that we need every time.
"I'm not the shooter. I'm not the star player. I'm just going to do what I can to contribute and just hope my talents help the team make it far in the NCAA Tournament."
That doesn't mean Spencer can't shoot. He's been working on his shot all offseason. And every now and then, he'll surprise you – like the Euro step he broke out on a fast break against Alabama last week. But he also knows his role. He knows that Auburn needs him to be a physical presence inside, an intimidator.
So when the 6-foot-8, 225-pound big man is kneeling at the scorer's table waiting to check in, he scans the court and finds the most physical player on the opposing team.
"I just analyze it and see who's playing the most physical," Spencer said. "And then I see if I can match it, if not be more physical to a certain extent without fouling."
"Fearless," Brown said. "He doesn't care who's going up with him. He doesn't care who's in front of him. He's going to take one for the team. That just shows you how much of a team player he is because most guys wouldn't do that. That's not showing 15, 20 points on the board. That's just making a game-winning play."
Fearless. Tough. Willing to sacrifice.
Spencer embodies all of it. It's what makes him such a great teammate. And it's what makes him such an important piece to this year's Auburn team.
Greg Ostendorf is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greg_ostendorf