BYU men's basketball: Cougars survive scare from San Francisco, 80-76

What made matters worse for BYU was that Davies played only nine minutes in the first half. Davies picked up three fouls, relegating him to the bench, and Haws struggled from the floor, hitting just 2-of-9 shots. Meanwhile, Zylstra came up big for the Cougars, nailing all four of his attempts from the floor, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range for a team-high 11 points at the break.

San Francisco had six different players hit 3-pointers, including three by Chris Adams and two by Doolin.

At intermission, the Dons led, 46-37. But in the second half, the Cougars kept their composure and cut into the Dons' lead. But USF made only 2-of-11 3-point attempts in the second half.

BYU trailed, 69-62, with 8:30 remaining when the Cougars went on a 15-2 run, capped by Cusick's 3-pointer.

BYU outrebounded USF in the second half, 23-17. The Cougars outscored the Dons over the final 20 minutes, 43-30.

"We won the game with our rebounding," Carlino said. "We hit the boards pretty hard."

The Cougars had 12 second-chance points, compared to three for the Dons.

BYU returns home Thursday when it hosts Pepperdine.

NOTES: Announced attendance was 2,123. … Kaufusi came in for Davies in the first half and scored two points in four minutes of play. … BYU shot 49.2 percent while USF shot 50 percent. … The Cougars made just 11-of-20 free-throw attempts.

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