First-year Head Coach Barret Peery 's Portland State basketball team will have to do with a home away from home in 2017-18 as the Vikings' basketball schedule has been released.

Peery, hired at PSU last April, will have to wait one season before he leads his squad into the new Viking Pavilion on the Portland State campus (project completion in March 2018). So the Vikings will spend 2017-18 playing home games at Lewis and Clark College in southwest Portland. Lewis and Clark is a short five-mile drive from the PSU campus. The Vikings will play 12 of 13 home games there in the 2,300-seat Pamplin Sports Center.

"The challenge of playing home games not at home will be a new thing for us this season," said Peery. "I don't think we will do a lot of things differently, other than making sure everyone knows we are playing in a different place and make sure they get there. Lewis and Clark has been very welcoming to us in letting us come there, and we are excited about that."

A 13th home game will be played against Utah State at Memorial Coliseum. Three other neutral site games will take place in the Rose Quarter (both Memorial Coliseum and the Moda Center) as part of the PK80 Tournament presented by State Farm over Thanksgiving weekend.

Add in a game at the University of Portland, and the Vikings will play 17 times in the Portland area.

The other change to Portland State's schedule for the 2017-18 season will be game times. Weeknight games will tip off at 8 p.m. while weekend games will tip at 1 p.m. The change in tip times are to better accommodate both Lewis and Clark and Portland State activities and schedules at Pamplin.

Portland State's preseason will begin with an exhibition game against Evergreen State on Nov. 5. The Vikings will host Willamette (Nov. 14), Portland Bible (Dec. 2) and Linfield (Dec. 16) in non-conference games at Lewis and Clark. The Utah State game, which will be the first meeting between the schools in 36 years, will be played at Memorial Coliseum.

Of course the highlight of the non-conference schedule is participation in the PK80 Tournament, Nov. 23-26. The Vikings will open on Thanksgiving Day against Duke at 1:30 p.m on a game televised on ESPN. PSU's second-round opponent (Nov. 24) will be either Butler or Texas. The third-round opponent will be among Florida, Stanford, Gonzaga or Ohio State on Nov. 26. All games will be televised on ESPN Networks.

Other non-conference games have the Vikings playing at Portland (Nov. 11), UC Riverside (Nov. 18), Santa Clara (Dec. 9), Oregon (Dec. 13) and Cal (Dec. 21).

"We are very excited about the preseason schedule. Everybody has heard about PK80 and the teams that are coming to town and the excitement behind that. But we also have a very challenging schedule before and after that with Portland, Riverside, Cal, Oregon, Santa Clara…" said Peery.

The Vikings will be challenged early in their Big Sky Conference schedule as well, playing the first three games and five of the first seven on the road.

"Travel is grueling in this league, maybe one of the toughest in the country with all the places you have to get to, and with weather, you have to have a mind-set to persevere," said Peery. "Particularly playing Thursday night, then maybe Saturday afternoon somewhere else, the travel in between can be challenging."

The Vikings host Big Sky Conference games against Montana State (Jan. 11), Montana (Jan. 13), Sacramento State (Jan. 27), Idaho (Feb. 1), Eastern Washington (Feb. 3), Weber State (Feb. 15), Idaho State (Feb. 17), Northern Colorado (Mar. 1) and North Dakota (Mar. 3).

Due to the unbalanced schedule, PSU will face Southern Utah and Northern Arizona (road), and Northern Colorado and North Dakota (home) only once each. All other opponents will be played home and home.

The Big Sky Conference Tournament, held in Reno once again, takes place Mar. 6-10.

"From all that I hear about the conference," said the Vikings' new coach, "everybody is excited about the usual suspects: Weber State, Montana, I know Idaho is supposed to have a very good team returning, and of course (defending champion) North Dakota. As you talk about the teams, and what they have coming back, I think every night will be a tough game. With the unbalanced schedule you have make sure you handle business when you have the opportunity."

Peery's squad returns eight letterwinners and two starters from last season. The Vikings were 15-16, 7-11 in the Big Sky in 2016-17. They reached the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament before being eliminated.

"I am very excited about this group. I like this senior group and the new guys coming in. I think we will surprise some people and have a team that people will really enjoy watching," said Peery.

2017-18 Portland State Men's Basketball Schedule

Nov. 5, EVERGREEN STATE (exhibition), TBA

Nov. 11, at Portland, 7 p.m.

Nov. 14, WILLAMETTE, 8 p.m.

Nov. 18, at UC Riverside, 4 p.m.

Nov. 20, UTAH STATE, Memorial Coliseum, 7 p.m.

PK80 TOURNAMENT presented by State Farm

Nov. 23, vs. Duke, Memorial Coliseum, 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 24, vs. Butler/Texas, Moda Center, 12 or 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 26, vs. Florida/Stanford/Gonzaga/Ohio State, Memorial/Moda, TBA

Dec. 2, PORTLAND BIBLE, 1 p.m.

Dec. 9, at Santa Clara, 7 p.m.

Dec. 13, at Oregon, TBA

Dec. 16, LINFIELD , 1 p.m.

Dec. 21, at California, TBA

BIG SKY CONFERENCE GAMES

Dec. 30, at Sacramento State*, TBA

Jan. 4, at Eastern Washington*, 6:05 p.m.

Jan. 6, at Idaho*, TBA

Jan. 11, MONTANA STATE*, 8 p.m.

Jan. 13, MONTANA*, 1 p.m.

Jan. 18, at Idaho State*, 6 p.m. PT

Jan. 20, at Weber State*, 6 p.m. PT

Jan. 27, SACRAMENTO STATE*, 1 p.m.

Feb. 1, IDAHO*, 8 p.m.

Feb. 3, EASTERN WASHINGTON*, 1 p.m.

Feb. 8, at Montana*, TBA

Feb. 10, at Montana State*, 1 p.m. PT

Feb. 15, WEBER STATE*, 8 p.m.

Feb. 17, IDAHO STATE*, 1 p.m.

Feb. 22, at Southern Utah*, TBA

Feb. 24, at Northern Arizona*, TBA

Mar. 1, NORTHERN COLORADO*, 8 p.m.

Mar. 3, NORTH DAKOTA*, 1 p.m.

BIG SKY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, Reno, NV

Mar. 6-10 , Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament

All home games at Lewis and Clark College unless noted