Provo, UT -- (Sports Network) - Jonathan Tavernari scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and grabbed six rebounds to lead 21st-ranked Brigham Young over Southern Utah, 70-55, at the Marriott Center.

Lee Cummard scored the first five BYU points and seven of the Cougars' first 11, ending with 12 points, as BYU (10-2) recorded its third straight win.

Trent Plaisted dropped 11 points and snagged nine boards and Sam Burgess tallied 10 points for the Cougars, who extended their homecourt winning streak to 38 games, the longest active streak in the nation.

"Jonathan (Tavernari) was terrific," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "He really gave us an offensive lift. He was the one player that was playing with a lot of confidence, especially in the second half. The other guys were pressing a little too hard, but Jonathan was playing with a lot of confidence."

Geoff Payne and Davis Baker each scored 15 points for Southern Utah (2-10), which has lost three straight. Dave Marek was the only other Thunderbird to reach double figures, with 11 points.

BYU proved to be too much for Southern Utah as the Cougars jumped out to a 26-15 lead on a Plaisted jumper with 3:27 left in the first half.

After a Thunderbird timeout with 2:54 left, the team came out and made six consecutive points. The run was capped by a Marek layup with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to 28-21.

Archie Rose drained a trey with two seconds left to increase BYU's lead to 10 points, 31-21, going into the half. The three was Rose's only points of the game.

The second half was all Cougars as the Thunderbirds never pulled closer than nine points. The closest Southern Utah came to making it a game was an 8-1 run capped by a Baker three with 5:57 left to make it 54-45. Southern Utah would never pose another threat and BYU coasted to a win.

"They're an excellent basketball team, and they played well, especially defensively," SUU head coach Roger Reid said. "A couple of our players that we count on couldn't get going because of their defensive pressure."

Game Notes:

BYU now owns an 11-0 all-time record against Southern Utah...BYU shot 56.5 percent from the field, whereas Southern Utah shot 37.5 percent.