I don't think you quite understood my point. A lot of Lee's conditioning issues are because he works so hard to turn his opponent in the first period. His style of riding takes a tremendous amount of energy. He's not just throwing a leg in and eating clock. He's cranking a a guy's wrist underneath him, securing it, rolling through across his own back, and holding him for 4 seconds all while the opponent is bellied out and fighting his hands. Doing this for 2-3 minutes straight will exhaust even the best conditioned athletes, no matter how easy he makes it look.
When I talk about pacing, I'm talking about him wrestling with some ebb and flow instead of squeezing a guy for 3 minutes straight on top. When he goes catch and release, even though he's always working to score, he's not tensing every muscle in his body at full go the entire time. It's a lot more forgiving on his lungs, especially because of how clean his technique is, leading to easy finishes. It also demands more energy from his opponent, who instead of laying on his belly, is forced to move and defend.
The two matches against Medley from Michigan are a perfect example. In the first match, Lee spent the entire first period trying to crank Medley over. It took a lot out of him and he only got a two point tilt out of it. By the third, he was very tired and ended up not getting bonus because of it. Contrast that to the big tens match. Instead of spending all of his energy early on top, he went catch and release, built a good rhythm, and demolished Medley. He was up 12-3 in the first before he really made a serious attempt on top, and his turn came a lot easier at this point.
Tom makes this point with Marinelli a lot too. Sometimes he gets too locked in on trying to pin guys early when they're fresh when he should focus on building his lead, wearing him down, and then looking to pin. I think that's the adjustment Spencer made at Big Tens. He wasn't just locked in to wrestling on top. If you get a takedown in the first 10 seconds, but you spend the next 2 minutes trying to turn a guy and spend a ton of energy for nothing, why not just go catch and release and build your lead there? I think he needed to be reminded that he's way better than everyone on his feet too.