No break for Vikings

Winter break won’t exactly be relaxing for the Portland State men’s basketball team. The Vikings (4-2 overall) will play six of their next eight games on the road, including road games against Pac-12 in-state rivals Oregon and Oregon State.

During the end of the road stretch, the Vikings will begin Big Sky conference play with away games at Montana on Dec. 28 and Montana State on Dec. 30. The Vikings will not play their first conference game at home until Jan. 5, when they host Northern Arizona.

“We’ve got a tough stretch of games,” head coach Tyler Geving said. “Winning on the road in Division I college basketball is hard. You have to be a little bit better, you have to play a little bit smarter. Everything you do, you have to be a little bit better at.”

The Vikings begin their challenging December stretch this Saturday as they host the Walla Walla Wolves (1-10 overall) at the Stott Center. Walla Walla is led by senior guard Mark Moore, who is averaging 13.5 points and 4.7 assists per game. The Wolves will be the final lower-division opponent the Vikings play this year.

“There’s a lot of things we need to clean up and work on,” Geving said. “Hopefully, this is a game where we can improve on some of things that we haven’t done well so far.”

Portland State has struggled shooting from the perimeter, only managing to make .238 percent of their three-point attempts this season. The Vikings are also averaging nearly 15 turnovers a game. In last weekend’s loss to Wyoming at the Jim Thorpe Classic, the Vikings shot 3-13 from the three-point line and committed 18 turnovers for 22 Wyoming points.

A positive for Portland State has been the recent play of senior guard Charles Odum. Odum led the Vikings in scoring in the team’s two wins at the Jim Thorpe Classic, scoring a career-high 27 points in the win against Louisiana Tech. The senior guard is currently third in the conference in scoring at 17.5 points a game and is shooting more than 50 percent from the field.

The Vikings have also been solid up front. Senior forward Chehales Tapscott is averaging 14 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Fifth-year senior center Nate Lozeau is averaging 12 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 63 percent from the field.

“Nate’s really done a great job,” Geving said. “We have been telling him, you know, this is it. Being a fifth-year senior, this is your last chance.”

The Vikings are also expecting to get closer to full strength in the upcoming weeks. Juniors Renado Parker and Martin Whitmore hope to return to action on Dec. 10 during a road game against Utah Valley.

Parker has been sitting out due to transfer-eligibility rules, while Whitemore has been recovering from an elbow injury. The addition of both these players will play an important role in the success of the Vikings going into conference play.

“It’ll be nice to add two more pieces to the puzzle,” Geving said. “They’re two players that can really help us and make us a better team. It’s exciting knowing that we have more talent coming.”

The Vikings hope to continue to get better as the season goes on. The schedule on the road will be tough, but the real challenge will begin once conference play starts.

“We want to peak in February,” Geving said.

Portland State will host Walla Walla University this Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 5:35 p.m. at the Stott Center.