FAMU basketball coaches Shalon Pillow, Robert McCullum react to season openers at UF and Oregon

Hoops are here.

And Florida A&M basketball had its first taste of the regular season with women taking on Florida and men facing Oregon on Monday.

The Gators (1-0) defeated the Lady Rattlers (0-1), 83-55 behind 18 points by guard Leilani Correa.

FAMU guard Dylan Horton had the game-high with 20 points on the night. Purdue transfer guard Mide Oriyomi also had the game-high 11 rebounds.

Therefore, FAMU coach Shalon Pillow left Stephen C. O'Connell Arena optimistic about her team as it returns from a 3-25 2021 campaign.

"I was really pleased with our team's performance," Pillow said. "I told my team and my staff that the only way we leave disappointed is if we don't compete or play hard.

"And we did both of those things."

FAMU men's basketball fell at No. 21 Oregon, 80-45.

The team struggled as no player surpassed double figures in scoring. But coach Robert McCullum plans to reel his team back in as the Rattlers have two games left this week against Portland and Oregon State.

"We got away from our game plan too often," McCullum said. "We tried to play too fast which is something we're not suited for.

"I was pleased in the first half because I saw some bright spots for us. At times, we pressured and bothered (Oregon). We weren't able to sustain that, but it gave us some momentum."

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Shalon Pillow breaks down FAMU women's basketball opener at Florida

The main detriment to the Rattlers was their 28 turnovers.

It translated to 28 points off turnovers for the Gators.

Florida ran a full court press all game, but the FAMU felt prepared.

It was the unforced errors that mostly hurt the team.

"Our turnovers killed us," Pillow said. "We knew they were going to press and was prepared for the press because of Coach (Colby) Davis' scouting report.

"We just got sped up and had some careless turnovers that were created in the press, but some were also unforced. Most were in our control.

"Something that we talked about a lot was taking care of the ball and cutting those down would put us in that game to possibly win or maybe not have as large of a deficit.

The Rattlers' rapid fire offense worked for awhile as FAMU jumped out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game.

They trailed 25-18 by the end of the first quarter as players exhausted.

"That's the style of play that we want to play here," Pillow said. "It was just a matter of getting players in the right position so we can do that.

"We only have nine active players right now, but only seven are healthy. As we get some of our injured players back, we'll have a deeper bench and be able to push the tempo even more."

Horton's scoring and Oriyomi's rebounding was key for FAMU. Alabama transfer guard Ahriahnna Grizzle continued to emerge as another reliable scoring option for the Rattlers, adding 11 points to their tally.

All three of these players have Power 5 experience with Horton transferring from Virginia last season. It will come in handy as the season progresses.

"They're not scared," Pillow said. "Sometimes when you're a SWAC school playing against a Power 5, it can sometimes be a fear factor because they're look upon as the top of all sports.

"I have players that have played at that level which is half the battle sometimes. Everybody pretty much played their role and put us in a position to succeed.

"I knew that playing a SEC school would be a challenge and we've got a lot to work on before we got to conference."

FAMU will go to Tampa to face USF on Friday.

It's where Pillow got her start in coaching as an assistant under coach Jose Fernandez.

"It's all a process," Pillow said. "I'm just looking to see what we can do well against the top teams in the country.

"It's a big time full circle and I'm excited to get back down to where I got a start in this business."

FAMU men's basketball coach Robert McCullum details opener at Oregon

Lack of experience played a major role in the Rattlers' performance with nine new additions to the team.

This enabled Oregon to speed up the team's offense and force them into giving the ball away.

FAMU had 21 total turnovers.

"This was the first Division I game for some of them," McCullum said. "Right now, they're having to figure out the best way we need to play.

"Your goal is to not get sped up regardless of who you play. Sometimes when your opponent pulls ahead, it's just natural for individuals to feel like they need to try to do a little bit more.

"But that's not the best way. When that several players start doing that, it takes its toll."

The guard tandem of Jordan Chatman and Jordan Tillmon led the Rattlers with eight points each.

FAMU scored 24 points in the paint and struggled with three-point shooting, only making three of 18 attempts.

"That's not going to be a strength of ours and this is not going to be a team that score a lot of points," McCullum said. "Defense is going to have to carry us to create some offense.

"Points in the paint didn't just come from throwing the ball inside. It comes from attacking. We got to get more of that because we'd be better at that than shooting threes."

The Oregon game served as a homecoming for McCullum. He was an assistant coach for the Ducks from 2014 to 2017.

McCullum received a warm reception.

"The welcome could not have been better," he said. "They rolled out the red carpet for us and it was unbelievable."

FAMU will play two more games in Oregon against Portland on Wednesday and Oregon State on Friday.

"Portland has a different style of play," McCullum said. "They're not as athletic or big, but they're very skilled.

"I haven't even looked at Oregon State yet. The only thing I can say is that the colors are orange and black.

"We're playing one at a time."

Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Basketball: Pillow, McCullum evaluates team's season openers