LAS VEGAS – The Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament gets underway on Wednesday from Las Vegas with eight teams taking part in first round games. The Oregon State Beavers are the 6-seed and face 11-seed Arizona State at 8 p.m. in the final game of the first day from the tournament.

The Beavers are sporting their best ranking in the tournament since being the 6-seed in 2010, when there were only 10 teams in the conference. Oregon State might be riding high off its big win over UCLA in the regular season finale, but the Beavers will need to stay focused against a Sun Devils squad that defeated OSU 86-68 near the end of January.

Since the Pac-12 Conference expanded to 12 teams, the 6-seed is 4-0 against the 11-seed, a good sign for Oregon State. Also a good sign for the Beavers’ hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. Many analysts expect that a win in the Pac-12 tournament would make the Beavers a lock for the big dance.

Oregon State and Arizona State tipoff at 8 p.m. Pregame coverage gets started at 7:30 p.m. on 1490 The Score.

The No. 8 Oregon Ducks have a first round bye and see their first action on Thursday against the winner of Stanford and Washington.

– Joey Keeran | @joeykeeran | joey@bciradio.com