Post-Game Highlights and Interviews

As far as home openers go, it doesn't get much better than USF's wire-to-wire, 80-54 victory over Rice Monday night in Memorial Gymnasium.
 
An outstanding 40-minute defensive effort, a balanced scoring column, solid contributions from two veterans and the continued improvement of young players added up to a 26-point victory over the Owls, as the Dons (2-0) remained unbeaten on the young season. Rice falls to 0-2 on the year.
 
Four Dons scored in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Devin Watson's 12 points, while Tim Derksen, Uche Ofoegbu and Ronnie Boyce III added 11 points each. Chase Foster chipped in with nine points on the strength of three 3-pointers. 
Don't'e Reynolds pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Watson added six assists to his impressive stat line.
 
All 16 players saw action tonight, including walk-on Randy Cruzet, who got into the scoring column with :12 seconds left in the game.
 
The Dons shot 50.8 percent from the field and held Rice to just 33.8 percent shooting from the floor, including 4-of-22 from three-point range. USF also had the better of it on the boards, 45-33.
 
USF, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to an early 10-2 lead as Foster canned a pair of threes in the game's opening minutes. With USF holding a 14-12 lead with 13:01 left in the first half, the Dons went on a 13-0 run to open a 27-12 lead with 9:02 left before taking a 41-22 lead into intermission.
 
The Dons led by as many as 29 points in the second half, last at 75-46 with 4:01 left.
 
The Dons were efficient in all facets of the game, but it was the team's defensive effort which pleased USF's head coach Rex Walters the most.
 
"That was as good as we've played defensively in quiet a long time," said Walters. "They are a little banged up but we really protected the paint and understood personnel. We made then work for everything, which was great to see.
 
With only two players returning off last year's roster who played more than 90 minutes, depth was a question mark heading into the season. Admittedly, the Dons don't have all of the answers two games into the season but Walters is finding plenty of options up and down his bench early on.
 
"We got guys coming off the bench who can legitimately be starters," said Walters. "In time, we might have just as much firepower coming off the bench as we do in our starting lineup. We have 8-9 guys who can legitimately play. It's a nice problem to have.
 
"I thought we played really well but we have a long ways to go. I'm happy with where we are at this point of the season."
 
The Dons left Memorial Gymnasium tonight feeling pretty good about themselves -- as they should. However, USF will clean the slate tomorrow as it begins preparation for Thursday night's game at Fresno State. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Save Mart Center.