Jesse Zarzuela scored 14 points and Jadrian Tracey added 13 for Oregon in its 67-54 win over Florida A&M Monday night in Tallahassee, Florida, at the Rattlers’ home court.
The game was part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series that brought the Power 5 conference Ducks to play at an HBCU.
Jermaine Couisnard had 11 points for the Ducks (4-0). Tracey, a Florida native, added six rebounds to pace Oregon. The Ducks outscored the Rattlers (0-4) by 12 points in the second half.
Keith Lamar and K’Jei Parker combined for 36 of Florida A&M’s 54 points, both scoring 18 points.
Up only one at halftime, Oregon used a 9-2 run to open the second half with a 37-29 lead. The Rattlers got as close as three points down on a Parker jumper with 13:38 to play, but the Ducks took over for good thanks to a decisive 9-0 run featuring a pair of Kario Oquendo 3-pointers.
An Oquendo 3 made it 48-36 at the 12:02 mark of the second half. Florida A&M only got as close as eight points after that.
Florida A&M had not come close to a win in its previous three games, but all were against major programs in current No. 8 Creighton, Nebraska and Florida.
Oregon led 28-27 at halftime, as both teams struggled with shooting in the first half. The Ducks were 7 of 21 and the Rattlers were 10 of 30.
Parker, Florida A&M’s leading scorer in the absence of senior Love Bettis — who had 24 points in the season opener — had nine of his points in the first half.
Florida A&M used a 7-0 first-half run to take a 21-18 in a tight first half, after Zarzuela hit a 3 for an 18-14 Ducks lead with 9:12 to play.
Lamar, a transfer from Stetson, picked up his second foul before the midway point of the half and had to sit for a long stretch.
–Field Level Media