CHICAGO -- Friday's season-opener at Illinois-Chicago was much anticipated for no other reason than the young Dons finally would get a look at what they had under the hood after a nearly two-months of intense practices. With a 78-75 road win over the Flames at UIC Pavilion, USF passed its first test of the season with flying colors.
 
A balanced scoring column saw five Dons finish in double figures, led by Tim Derksen and Devin Watson, who scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. Ronnie Boyce III scored 13 off the bench while Montray Clemons added 10. Derksen also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds to complete the double-double from his two-guard position. Junior Uche Ofoegbu finished with nine points, including a game-tying three-point play with under two minutes remaining.
 
Dikembe Dixon led the Flames with 13 points.
 
USF won the game despite shooting just 38.1 percent from the field and missing 17 (22-of-39) of its free throw tries. The smaller Dons held a 54-48 advantage on the boards and limited the Flames to just 36.8 percent shooting on their homecourt. The game was choppy from the outset as the two teams were whistled for a combined 54 fouls on the night.
 
There were 11 lead changes and eight ties in a game that neither team led by more than six points.
 
Stats aside, USF pulled out the three-point win in its season opener because the Dons made plays when they had to – plain and simple.
 
Trailing by four with 5:56 left in the game, Ofoegbu tied the game at 73 with a three-point play after being fouled by Tia Odiase with 1:57 remaining. After the Dons forced a Flame turnover, freshman Nate Renfro gave USF a 75-73 lead with 1:27 left with a layup off an assist from Watson.
 
Needing a basket to tie, UIC's Hassan Thomas misfire on the Flames next trip down the floor was gathered by Derksen and following two free throws by Watson, the Dons enjoyed a 77-73 lead with just 16 seconds remaining.
 
A pair of free throws by Dikembe Dixon cut the Dons lead to 77-75 with :07 left. After Watson was fouled on the inbounds play, he made just 1-of-2 free throws to give the Flames life. However, UIC was unable to get off a shot at the end and Dons hung on for the three-point victory.
 
USF got off to a solid start and built an early 8-2 lead. However, the Dons trailed 24-21 with 7:51 left but a quick eight points by Derksen and six by Boyce III down the stretch helped the Dons to a 38-36 lead at the break.
 
"We showed a lot of perseverance down the stretch and I'm really happy for our guys," said USF head coach Rex Walters. "We didn't make it easy on ourselves by any means – we have to become a better free throw shooting team. But when we needed to make them we did."
 
"We've had 29 practices and then to open on the road against as athletic of a team that we might face all season and find a way to win says something about this group. I was very pleased with our transition defense and our ability to challenge every shot."
 
USF will return to action on Monday night when the Dons play host to the Rice Owls of Conference USA in Memorial Gymnasium beginning at 7:00 p.m. The game can be seen live on TheW.tv with Pat Olson and Jim Brovelli calling the action.