Gazette-Times Reporter

The honeymoon is over.

Increased challenges are ahead for the Oregon State men’s basketball team. It’s time to play the Pacific-10 Conference portion of the season.

First-year coach Craig Robinson pushed and prodded his players into a solid team. However, they played a light nonconference schedule compared to what awaits in the Pac-10.

Results have been mixed, with a good win over Nebraska and dismal losses to Yale and Howard. OSU’s record is 5-5 and it has won four straight and five of its last six games.

“We’ve played a lot of good teams, but we haven’t played anyone as good as we will in the conference season,” Robinson said. “It’s a tough conference, and people are trying to say it’s down. For us, it’s not down. It’s still very, very tough.”

The Beavers open Pac-10 play at 7:30 tonight at Gill Coliseum against No. 12 UCLA, the favorite to win the conference for the fourth straight time.

Southern California visits at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, followed by a trip to the Arizona schools the following weekend and home dates with the Washington schools on Jan. 15 and Jan. 17. Those six schools are considered among the top half of the Pac-10.

“They are not trying to take it easy on us,” Robinson said. “But we have to play them at some point. We might as well play them at the beginning.”

There have been a few early bumps for UCLA, but the Bruins have been successful. The most dominating teams have been undefeated Stanford and No.17 Arizona State.

“UCLA will get better,” Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. “The conference is better than people are saying and think. Is it as powerful as last year? No.

“It might not be where it was last year, but it won’t be as far a way as people think. There will be a lot of close games. All the teams are able to compete. It should be a fun conference for fans to watch.”

Part of the negative view of the Pac-10 this season is the coaching turnover. There are four new coaches after years of continuity built a power conference.

Three coaches are trying to maintain their program, but a dip is expected. The only one rebuilding a program is Robinson.

“We are not there yet,” OSU guard Calvin Haynes said. “We have a lot to work on still, but we are going to be ready for the Pac-10.”

Another issue for the conference is that there are young teams everywhere. The NBA depleted rosters in recent years.

UCLA might not be as potent, but Arizona State is in the fourth season of rebuilding with a veteran roster. This could be the year of the Sun Devils.

So while the Beavers only added forward Daniel Deane to the active roster from last season, when they went winless in the Pac-10, there’s hope for a better finish.

“I don’t know if the conference is as dominant as it was,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “The bottom has come up, and the top has come back a little.”

There’s an improved focus from the Beavers with a new coach. He’s pushing them harder than before, so a few wins should come from hustle.

The Beavers were picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason media poll, so there are no external expectations.

“It comes down to working on ourselves,” Robinson said. “We know they are all good teams. We just have to work on defensive rebounding and not turning the ball over. We are still developing our own identity.”

Excitement from within the program is building playing with confidence, but it’s still a slow sell on the outside. Fans are waiting to see the progress during Pac-10 games. And now the time has come.

“I’m sure the fans’ excitement will be like when I was in the Big Ten Conference,” said Robinson, who assisted at Northwestern for six seasons before going to Brown as a head coach for the 2006-07 season. “There’s always excitement about the conference season, especially the first part of it. They will be excited about that anyway.

“It would be nice they were excited about the prospects of it, but that remains to be seen.”

BEAVERS MEN’S BASKETBALL REPORT

TODAY: vs. UCLA

TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Gill Coliseum

RECORDS: No. 12 UCLA 10-2; Oregon State 5-5 • SERIES: UCLA leads 82-34 • TICKETS: $25, $15 for reserve seats

TV/RADIO: FSN (34)/KEJO (1240 AM)

UPDATE: This is the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams. -. UCLA won both games last season, 85-62 and 84-49, and won the last seven meetings. The last time Beavers beat the Bruins was March 10, 2005 in Pac-10 Tournament. -. The Beavers have lost 20 consecutive regular season Pac-10 games, and 22 overall including the conference tournament. The last win was a 73-65 victory over Washington on Feb. 24, 2007. -. G Calvin Haynes (18.8 ppg) leads the Beavers in scoring, followed by F Omari Johnson (11.3 ppg). -. Johnson and F Daniel Deane are the top rebounds at 5.9 rpg each. -. UCLA is third in the Pac-10 in scoring (77.2 ppg) and makes a conference-leading 50 percent of its shots, while the Beavers are ninth in scoring (64.9). -. The Bruins are second in defense (57.9) and the Beavers are fifth (62.4). -. UCLA is the top defensive rebounding team in the Pac-10 (28 a game) and in steals (9.7). -. PG Darren Collison (14.9 ppg, 5.3 apg) is the UCLA leader. -. The Bruin s are on a six-game winning streak.