Oregon State heads to Las Vegas as the No. 5 seed in the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament, which begins Thursday at Orleans Arena.

It is the Beavers’ first appearance at the WCC tournament, which runs through March 11. OSU could face a familiar foe in its opening game, as it plays the winner of No. 8 Portland vs. No. 9 Pepperdine.

Oregon State’s tourney opener is Saturday at 6 p.m. If the Beavers win, they’ll face No. 4 Santa Clara on Sunday. OSU must win four games in four days to win the WCC championship and an automatic NCAA tournament berth.

Portland’s opener against Pepperdine is Friday at 6 p.m.

WCC regular season champion Saint Mary’s and runner-up Gonzaga are the top two seeds and slotted in the tournament semifinals. No. 3 San Francisco and No. 4 Santa Clara earned berths in the WCC quarterfinals.

Other seeds are Washington State (6), Loyola Marymount (7), Pacific (10) and San Diego (11).

Quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games are televised on ESPN or ESPN2, while the remaining games are shown on ESPN+.

Here is the WCC men’s tournament schedule:

At Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

Thursday, March 6

Game 1: No. 10 Pacific (9-23) vs. No. 11 San Diego (5-26), 2:30 p.m.

Friday, March 7

Game 2: No. 8 Portland (12-19) vs. No. 9 Pepperdine (10-21), 6 p.m.

Game 3: No. 7 Loyola Marymount (16-14) vs. Game 1 winner, 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 8

Game 4: No. 5 Oregon State (20-11) vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.

Game 5: No. 6 Washington State (18-13) vs. Game 3 winner, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 9

Game 6: No. 4 Santa Clara (20-11) vs. Game 4 winner, 5:30 p.m.

Game 7: No. 3 San Francisco (23-8) vs. Game 5 winner, 8 p.m.

Monday, March 10

Game 8: No. 1 Saint Mary’s (27-4) vs. Game 6 winner, 6 p.m.

Game 9: No. 2 Gonzaga (23-8) vs. Game 7 winner, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 11

Game 10: Game 1 vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.

—Nick Daschel | ndaschel@oregonian.com | @nickdaschel | @nickdaschel.bsky.social | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.