Missoula, MT - Montana continued its recent dominance over Portland State, opening Big Sky Conference play with a 75-64 win over the Vikings in Missoula.

For the Grizzlies, it was a sixth straight win over PSU over the past three seasons. The Grizzlies improved to 8-5 on the year, 1-0 in Big Sky play. Portland State dropped to 6-7, 0-1, and has lost five of six.

Charles Odum scored 27 points for the Vikings, tying his career high.

It was a poor start and offensive first half for the Vikings. PSU had seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game. That allowed the Griz to quickly jump to a double-digit lead and maintain it throughout. The Vikings trailed 43-24 at halftime.

"It seemed like we had six turnovers before I sat down," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "Every time we turned it over they went down and layed it in. You can't do that, it just kills you."

The Vikings took care of the ball after that but it was too late as Montana had a big lead and shooting confidence.

The Griz lead improved to 23 early in the second half. The Vikings chipped away, outscoring Montana 40-32 after intermission and cutting it to as few as 11, but never got it to single digits.

Montana shot 53% from the field after shooting just 42% for the season. Included were 9-13 from three-point range (69%).

Odum made 8-13 from the field and 9-9 at the line for 27 points. It was his fourth 20-point game this year, with all four coming on the road.

Renado Parker had a season-high 16 points and eight rebounds, making 7-12 shots from the field.

Kareem Jamar led the Grizzlies with 17 points and four assists. Art Stewart and Will Cherry each scored 15 points.

GAME NOTES - Portland State is 0-7 on the road this year… SR F Chehales Tapscott had a game-high 12 rebounds… FR G Gary Winston returned to action after missing two games with a quad injury… PSU is 3-13 all-time in Big Sky games at Montana… Portland State plays at Montana State on Friday in a 6:05 p.m. PT game. It can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com, and seen on live video stream at www.b2tv.com.