Oregon (3-0) at Florida A&M (0-3)
Time/date: 5 pm, Monday
Site: Al Lawson Center, Tallahassee, Florida
TV: ESPN+. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3).
About the matchup: Oregon’s week in Florida begins with a game against the Rattlers. It will be Florida A&M’s first home game of the season. The Ducks and Rattlers have played three times in the last six years, with Oregon winning all three — 80-45 last season in the Ducks’ season-opener, 87-66 in 2021 and 71-64 in 2018.
About the Ducks: Starting center Nate Bittle, who injured his left wrist in Friday’s win against Tennessee State, will not play against Florida A&M, an Oregon spokesman said Sunday. A long-term prognosis for the junior was not available. The Ducks will also be without starting center N’Faly Dante, who will be seeing a specialist in Chicago on Monday for a deeper look into his sore knee. Dante hasn’t played since a 16-point, 21-rebound performance in the season-opening win against Georgia on Nov. 6. With their two big men sidelined, the Ducks will lean on their depth at the guard positions. Oregon is getting balanced scoring contributions from the crew of Jermaine Couisnard (12.3 points per game), Keeshawn Barthelemy (10.7), Brennan Rigsby (10.7), Kario Oquendo (9.7), Jesse Zarzuela (8.5) and Jadrian Tracey (7.3).
About the Rattlers: Florida A&M is winless this season but it has played a challenging schedule. The Rattlers losses have come against No. 8 Creighton (105-58), Nebraska (81-54) and Florida (89-68). Senior guard Love Bettis made his season-debut against the Gators and scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting with three 3-pointers. Florida A&M averages just 29 rebounds per game. Oregon averages 48.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at [email protected].
