STANFORD, CALIF. ? Mike Montgomery never liked the idea of the Pac-10 tournament. Now his Stanford players are counting on it as a chance to rebound from their only loss of the season before heading to the NCAA Tournament.

A week ago, most members of the second-ranked Cardinal weren’t looking forward to the conference tournament, which begins Thursday in Los Angeles.

As they headed to practice Monday — two days after losing to Washington to drop to 26-1 — that attitude had changed.

“Before the Washington trip, we were fatigued and tired and would have preferred not to play in the Pac-10 tournament,” guard Matt Lottich said. “After the loss, we’re rededicated to it.”

The top-seeded Cardinal open the league tournament against eighth-seeded Washington State. The Cougars nearly ended Stanford’s unbeaten run Thursday night, but Lottich’s buzzer-beating three-pointer lifted the Cardinal to a 63-61 victory.

“If I were them, I’d come out and play us the same way,” Stanford center Rob Little said.

Montgomery and Arizona coach Lute Olson were the only coaches opposed to the idea of bringing the conference tournament back in 2002 after a 12-year absence. They said the tournament took away from academics; as it happens, the Cardinal and Wildcats — annually near the top of the league — have little to gain from it.

Stanford has struggled in the conference tourney, too, losing its opener to USC the past two years.

Little believes the Cardinal must win their first game this time.

Stanford coach Mike Montgomery yells from the bench against Washington State. Montgomery and the Cardinal -- who rallied to defeat the Cougars in Pullman, Wash., but suffered their first loss of the season Saturday against Washington --want to start a new winning streak in the Pac-10 tournament.

“It’s important for (NCAA Tournament) seeding and also important for our psyche,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to make another statement.”

Regardless of how they fare, the Cardinal are a lock for their 10th straight NCAA Tournament bid — and probably a No. 1 seeding.

And they hope to have forward Justin Davis at full strength for the Pac-10 tournament.

The senior bruised a bone and partially tore a left knee ligament against Oregon State in January and hasn’t played since. He is averaging 11.5 points and 6.9 rebounds and is a good complement to Little inside.

While Stanford hasn’t announced for sure that he’ll play this week, Davis said Monday he planned to. He was set to practice at full speed for the first time since getting hurt.

“I’m as good as I’m going to be,” he said. “This is the first full bit of contact I’ve had on open court.”

The Cardinal finished one victory shy of becoming the first Pac-10 team to go 18-0 in conference play.