Vincent proves worth on big stage

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
March 20, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. Mississippi State University head basketball coach Rick Stansbury has told people all year how important senior Branden Vincent is to his team.
Stansbury has said time after time that Vincent may be the Bulldogs' most valuable player.
But the Bulldogs co-captain, along with Timmy Bowers, has largely gone unnoticed this year.
Outshined by transfer Lawrence Roberts, who was named the SEC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and Bowers, the team's second-leading scorer and lone returning starter from last year, Vincent quietly went to work each game with lunch pail in hand and hardhat snug on his head.
He did the dirty work for the Bulldogs.
Vincent sets the picks up high to free up guards Bowers and Winsome Frazier. He elbows and shoves his way through the trenches under the glass to collect an average of 7.3 rebounds per game.
He accepted being the fifth option on the floor after fellow starters Roberts, Bowers, Frazier and Shane Powers.
Vincent's unselfishness made MSU work this year, and the Bulldogs enjoyed a 25-win season, their first outright Southeastern Conference title in 41 years and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
So it was just fitting that Vincent emerged as one of the stars in the Bulldogs' 85-52 win over No. 15 Monmouth in the opening round of the tournament in the TD Waterhouse Centre.
Vincent tallied a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds against the Hawks.
Vincent took full advantage of the Hawks' constant double teaming of SEC Player of the Year Lawrence Roberts in the opening half.
The 6-foot-8 senior tallied nine points as he constantly attacked the basket.
Vincent's continued assault down low sent him to the free-throw line four times, where he hit 5-of-9 shots.
Getting down and dirty with the opposition is simply what Vincent does, and he seems to enjoy it.
A bull of a player at 240 pounds, he has a tendency to get into foul trouble early in games.
Stansbury has also talked about pleading with Vincent before games to not pick up a foul until the first television timeout
something he rarely accomplishes, essentially never.
But that's a small price to pay for a guy willing to do "the little things" that coaches are so fond of talking about.
The work may be easy for Vincent, but it sure isn't easy on opposing teams. And it is one of the reasons why MSU is going into the second round of the tournament.