Barry Stewart has held up his share of trophies during all four years at Mississippi State and his senior year is no exception.

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound shooting guard helped the Bulldogs claimthe SEC Western Division crown again this season but has his sights set on even more hardware during the postseason.

MSU earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament last season by winning four games in as many days claiming the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs will need a similar run to ensure their spot in the big dance this year.

"We have confidence," Stewart said. "We know last year we had a bench in doing that in four days. We're going to have to have big minutes from our bench going into the tournament and that's important."

The State bench has been riddled all year with season-ending injuries and NCAA suspensions leaving substitution options at a minimum for head coach Rick Stansbury.

Stansbury usually only relies on three players to play significant minutes off the bench. Stewart feels that Phil Turner, Riley Benock and Romero Osby all have what it takes to give the team a spark as reserves.

"We definitely know that Phil can bring us big minutes," Stewart said. "He has big energy. We've got to find other players that can give us some more. Riley is capable of giving us something off the bench and Ro is too."

The Bulldogs also have the concern of the injury to point guard Dee Bost. Bost suffered a hip pointer in the first half against Tennessee on Saturday. He missed the first few minutes of the second half but returned to finish out the game.



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