PROVO, Utah - The Dons did not resemble the team that suffered a 31-point loss on its home floor earlier this season to BYU tonight in Provo - but neither did the Cougars.

Still, the Cougars had just enough to outlast USF, 78-74 in a hard-fought, physical affair at the cavernous Marriott Center. With the win, BYU improves to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in the WCC while the Dons fall to 9-13 and 3-7 in conference play.

Mark Tollefsen scored a team-high 22 points for USF while Matt Christiansen added a career high 13 points to pace Dons' scorers. Chris Adams and Devin Watson also reached double figures with 10 points each.

Reigning WCC Player of the Year Tyler Haws had 28 points to lead the Cougars while Anson Winder was the only other Cougar player in double figures with 11.

The Dons shot a respectable 48.2 percent from the floor compared to BYU, which finished the night at 40 percent. Both teams struggled to get anything to fall from long distance. USF made just 5-of-21 of its three-pointers while the Cougars cashed in on just 3-of-20 long distance shots, a far cry from their blazing performance on the Hilltop earlier this month, when BYU made 15-of-28 threes in a 99-68 victory over the Dons.

The two teams were whistled for a combined 50 fouls, as BYU used 23 points from the line to fend off the upset.

USF had the better of it on the boards, outrebounding BYU, 41-38. However, the Dons made 17 turnovers which led to 27 Cougar points.

"We just came up short," said USF head coach Rex Walters. "A few plays here and there and the outcome might have been different. We just didn't do enough to get it done. We did a better job tonight in getting matched up and keeping them off balance. I thought they hurt us on the glass and took advantage of their free throws."

It was apparent from the beginning that the Dons were anxious to erase any memories from a lopsided defeat suffered at the hands of the Cougars on Jan. 3, as the Dons built a quick 8-4 lead with Tollefsen scoring six early points.

BYU quickly regained control with a 18-7 run and built a 22-15 lead with 8:55 left in the first half. The Cougars largest lead in the game was eight points at 32-24 with 1:18 before intermission, but USF narrowed the lead to 34-30 at the break.

The Cougars enjoyed a seven point lead at 54-47 with 12:07 left in the game after Skyler Halford hit a pair of free throws, but couldn't pull away from a foul plagued USF team.

Tollefsen buried a jumper that narrowed the lead to 54-52 with 9:41 left, only to see the Cougars boost the lead back to seven at 60-53 with 8:07 showing on the clock.

The Dons managed to creep to within one point on three occasions down the stretch, the last when Adams' drained a three to trim the lead to 71-70 with 2:16 remaining. After Haws missed a three-pointer on the Cougars next possession, the Dons had a chance to take the lead but Christiansen couldn't find the mark.

USF still had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds. After Halford managed to make just one of two free throws that gave BYU 75-72 lead, Adams missed badly on a potential tying three-pointer with :08 left. BYU finished the Dons off at the line to escape with a four point victory.

The Dons will return to action Saturday night at the University of San Diego, with tip-time slated for 5:00 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.