PROVO, Utah – USF figures to win most games when it scores 92 points, finishes with five players in double figures, shoots 48 percent from the floor and holds an advantage on the boards.
 
Unfortunately for the Dons, most games doesn't include tonight's contest at BYU, where the Cougars made 15-of-30 of their three-point attempts to come away with a 102-92 victory at the Marriott Center.
 
With the loss, USF drops to 9-7 on the season and 3-3 in the WCC while BYU improves to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Dons have lost six straight to BYU since its last win over the Cougars, which came during the 2012-13 season in Provo on a night when USF made 14 three-pointers of their own.
 
Devin Watson scored a team-high 25 points while Tim Derksen added 20 to lead five Dons in double figures. Ronnie Boyce finished with 13 while Matt McCarthy and Nate Renfro had 10 each.
 
The Cougars had three players score 20 or more points, led by Chase Fischer, who finished with 21 on the night. Nick Emery added 21 while Zac Seljaas contributed 20. Kyle Davis and Kyle Collinsworth were also in double figures, finishing with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
 
BYU, which came into the game shooting 38.7 percent from long distance on the season, made eight three's in the first half and seven more in the second en route to the 10-point victory. Fischer and Seljaas did the most of the Cougars' damage from beyond the arc, as the pair combined to make 11-of-20 on their three-point attempts. Emery also connected on three of his six tries from distance.
 
The Cougars also took advantage of 14 USF turnovers which led to 12 points and made 23-of-30 free throws.
 
There were 10 ties and eight lead changes in a tightly-contested first half. USF controlled the tempo for much of the first 20 minutes and led by as many as five points at 31-26 with 8:17 left before the break. The tempo then picked up as did the Cougars shooting, as BYU made four of their eight first half three-pointers over the final 10:53 of the second half and opened a 51-45 lead at the break.
 
A three-pointer by Fischer with 2:26 left in the first game BYU a 45-44 lead the Cougars would not surrender for the rest of the game.
 
BYU outscored USF 11-5 over the first 4:03 of second half to open up a 12 point, 62-50 lead. The Dons cut lead to single-digits at 72-63 with 11:21 left on back-to-back baskets by Boyce and McCarthy. Back-to-back baskets by Boyce brought the Dons to within six at 80-74 with 7:18 remaining, but Fisher answered the Dons' run with another three-pointer, which boosted the lead back to nine at 83-74.
 
USF trailed by seven at 83-76 after a pair of free throws by Watson, only to see Seljaas nail a three on the Cougars' next possession to boost the lead back to double digits at 86-76. BYU's lead grew to as many as 14 points before the Cougars settled for the 102-92 victory.
 
"Our guys battled but we didn't play our best," said head coach Rex Walters. "I loved our effort and heart and the way we kept battling back.
 
It marks the seventh time this season USF has allowed as many as 10 three-pointers in a game and the second time in the last three games against BYU the Cougars have exploded for 14 or more treys against the Dons.
 
"We have to do a better job in keeping them off the line and eliminating the open threes. If we are there on the catch and they make shots over our hands, I can live with that. But we gave them too many open ones that make the hard ones that much easier."
 
USF will return to action on Thursday night when the Dons take on the Loyola Marymount Lions in War Memorial at The Sobrato Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be carried live on TheW.tv.