FRESNO, Calif. -- If Monday night's 26-point win over Rice was an indication of how far a young USF had come in just a few short months, Tuesday night's 78-71 loss at Fresno State was a stern reminder the Dons are still very much a work in progress with a lot of basketball still ahead.
 
Senior guard Cezar Guerrero made 6-of-10 three-point attempts and scored 22 points while Marvelle Harris added 16 to lead Fresno State (3-0) to a wire-to-wire victory over USF, which suffered its first setback of the season after two wins to open the year.
 
Devin Watson finished with a career-high 24 points for the Dons while Tim Derksen (11) and Chase Foster (10) also reached double figures for USF. After shooting just 26.9 percent in the first half, the Dons warmed up to 55.6 in the second frame to finish at 41.5 percent for the game. The Bulldogs ended the game shooting 40 percent from the floor but knocked down 10-of-24 of its three-point tries.
 
The Bulldogs also had the better of it on the boards, 38-35. USF's bench, which had averaged over 30 points a game for the first two contests of the season, finished with just 12 points tonight.
 
There aren't many easy trips to Fresno and tonight's game at the Save Mart Center was an uphill struggle from the opening tip. The Bulldogs scored the first eight points of the game and took a 37-27 lead into intermission, largely on the strength of Guerrero's four first-half 3-pointers and icy shooting by the Dons.
 
The Bulldogs scored six of the first eight points in the second half to open a 14-point lead at 43-29 less than two minutes into the second frame.
 
Fresno State built its largest lead of the game at the 6:27 mark of the second half when the Bulldogs opened an 18-point, 68-50 advantage. The brightest spot for USF tonight was the fact the Dons scratched their way back into the game to cut the Bulldog lead down to seven with :38 seconds remaining. However, free throws by Guerrero and Harris in the final seconds closed the door on the Dons hopes for a miracle finish.
 
USF will return to action on Saturday night when the Dons host UC Riverside beginning at 7:00 p.m.