No. 21 Oregon wins opener against Florida A&M, 80-45

Updated Nov. 8, 2022 12:28 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — N'Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds as No. 21 Oregon opened the season with an 80-45 victory Monday night over Florida A&M.

Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the Ducks, who are ranked to start the season for the ninth straight year. Oregon led by as many as 36 in the second half.

Dante, guard Will Richardson and forward Quincy Guerrier are all returning starters for the Ducks, who finished last season 20-15 overall.

Richardson led Oregon with 14.1 points and 3.6 assists last season. He flirted with going pro but withdrew his name from the NBA draft in early June to instead use an extra year of eligibility with the Ducks this season. He had 11 points in the opener.

Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman scored eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who lost seven top players from last season when they went 13-17 overall. Florida A&M has 11 new players, including junior college transfers Tillmon, Byron Smith and forward Jaylen Bates.

Oregon began to pull away midway through the first half. Dante hit a pair of layups and junior college transfer Tyrone Williams added another to put the Ducks up 27-13.

Hantz Louis-Jeune got the Rattlers within 33-26 on a 3-pointer with 1:42 left in the half, but the Ducks led 36-26 at the break.

Dante's dunk put Oregon up 43-31 with just over 16 minutes left. Barthelemy's 3-pointer extended the lead to 54-35 and Oregon rolled to the win.

LEGACY SERIES

The game was part of the Pac-12′s basketball partnership with the Southwestern Athletic Conference that debuts this season. The Legacy Series between the two conferences seeks to foster competition and education around issues of anti-racism and social justice. Oregon’s game against Florida A&M, among the HBCUs in the SWAC, was the first of 12 men’s and women’s Legacy Series games for Pac-12 teams this season.

BIG PICTURE

Florida A&M: Rattlers coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman's staff from 2014-17. ... Florida A&M visits eight Power Five teams on its non-conference schedule, including Oregon State, Miami, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Kentucky and Purdue. The team plays 11 of its 13 non-conference games on the road.

Oregon: Opened the season without guard Jermaine Couisnard, who had lower body surgery last week. A transfer from South Carolina, he averaged 12 points and 3.2 assists last season. ... Oregon also won the previous three meetings with Florida A&M. The Ducks will visit Florida A&M in Tallahassee next season.

UP NEXT

Florida A&M: Plays at Portland on Wednesday.

Oregon: Will host UC Irvine on Friday.

___

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

share

in this topic

Quincy Guerrier

Jermaine Couisnard

Will Richardson

N'Faly Dante

Florida A&M Rattlers

Oregon Ducks