Beavers staying focused on task at hand

If the Beavers are going to achieve their preseason goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament, they'll have to win four games in four days at the Pac-12 Tournament.

Any hope of an at-large bid disappeared weeks ago.

And a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, which comes with a top-4 seed, is out of the equation — Oregon State is four games back of fifth place with five games to play.

Four wins in four days is what it's going to have to be, no matter what transpires over the next three weeks.

But coach Craig Robinson said any notion that the Beavers, fresh off an 0-2 week at home, have packed it in for the regular season is off-base.

"It's human nature to do that, but we've done a really good job with our ‘one day at a time' mantra all year long," Robinson said. "I'm not afraid that they're going to say ‘heck with the rest of the season, let's concentrate on the tournament.' They're not those kind of guys.

"They're interested in winning. They're interested in getting better."

Point taken.

The Beavers (15-10, 5-8 Pac-12) will take their two-game losing streak to Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. tonight to face Stanford University in a rematch of January's quadruple-overtime contest at Gill Coliseum.

What a difference a month and a half can make.

The last time these two teams met, the Beavers had just defeated conference-favorite Cal. Stanford was 12-3 and looked like a legitimate conference title contender.  

Stanford has lost five of its last seven entering tonight's game.

They too would only receive a NCAA Tournament bid if they ran the table at the Pac-12 Tournament.

Right now, the Beavers are living in the moment, playing for momentum.

"We have to keep that (one day at a time) focus, because the way we play going forward will affect the (Pac-12) Tournament," Robinson said.

"It's all about getting that momentum and carrying it into the tournament," freshman forward Eric Moreland said.

Freshman guard Challe Barton, who made his first collegiate start Sunday against Washington, said he's not worried about the seed the Beavers end up with.

"We just don't want other teams to have momentum going into the tournament, so we want to beat them," Barton said.

OSU did not beat Stanford the first time around, losing 103-101.

Robinson said his players aren't out seeking revenge.

"Our guys don't operate like that. They don't operate on revenge," Robinson said. "They operate on wanting to win, first and foremost. Secondly, they are starting to work at wanting to be real good at their craft."

Robinson said he recently watched the quadruple-overtime game and noted that it wasn't quite as painful to watch as when he watched it unfold originally.

"It's just one of those games where we had so many opportunities, which has sort of been a microcosm of our season," Robinson said. "We've had a lot of opportunities that we've let go by the wayside."

Tonight, they'll try to capitalize on an opportunity.

For the sake of momentum.

Grady Garrett, sports editor

Twitter: @gradygarrett

sports@dailybarometer.com