USF 75, Flagler 61: Chris Perry tied a career high with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead the Bulls to a season-opening win over the visiting Saints.

Nehemias Morillo added 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds in his debut for USF (1-0), which won in its debut under new coach Orlando Antigua. Corey Allen, Jr. pitched in 10 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Bulls, who also got eight points and a game-high seven assists from Anthony Collins.

Dennis Diaz paced the offense for Flagler (0-1), scoring 13 points, including 9-of-9 shooting from the foul throw line. De'Aires Tate collected 12 points and 10 rebounds while Lydell Manigo added 10 points for the Saints.

The Bulls used 11 unanswered points, led by six from Troy Holston, Jr., to begin to pull away from the Saints, leading by as many as 13 before a pair of Matt Clark free throws helped Flagler climb to within 27-21 with just over 6 1/2 minutes remaining until halftime. Consecutive layups from Perry sparked an answer from USF, however, to the tune of an 18-6 run that sent the Bulls into the locker room with a 45-27 halftime edge.

Diaz contributed six points in a little over a minute and a half early in the second half and Flagler was able to inch within 52-40 on a layup from Desmond Gibson with just over 13 minutes left, but USF halted any hopes of a rally with six straight points from inside the paint. A layup from Morillo gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the game at 70-49 with 5:03 remaining and USF was able to cruise down the stretch.

GAME NOTEBOOK: A knee injury forced Collins to miss 24 games last season after averaging 6.5 assists per game as a sophomore to rank 14th in the nation. … Flagler missed all six of its 3-point attempts in the first half and shot just 9-of-32 from the field before the break. … Antigua took over as Bulls' coach after six seasons as an assistant under John Calipari at Kentucky, replacing the departed Stan Heath.