3 keys to BYU's 90-88 win over UCF for season sweep

BYU got to the free throw line in a tough, physical Big 12 game and beat UCF 90-88 in front of 15,590 Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.

The Cougars were 40-of-46 from the line and 8-of-23 from 3-point range to improve to 6-5 in Big 12 play, 18-6 overall. This is the first time this season that BYU has been over .500 in league play.

UCF, which lost to BYU 63-58 in Orlando a month ago, fell to 4-7 and 13-10.

The Knights made four 3-pointers in the final minute and a two-pointer with 0.7 seconds left to pull off an almost miraculous comeback.

Jackson Robinson led BYU with 21 points, while Noah Waterman and Trevin Knell each added 17 points for BYU.

Here are three keys to BYU's two-point win:

• After shooting 10 of 21 from the 3-point line in Saturday's 72-66 win over Kansas State, the Cougars won it from the charity stripe Tuesday night in a game that included 46 fouls and lasted nearly two and a half hours.

Robinson was 12th out of 13 from the class, while Waterman was 9th out of 10 and Neal was 10th out of 13th.

The Knights were 14 of 26 from the free throw line.

• UCF can't seem to shoot effectively from the 3-point line against BYU when it really matters. The Knights made their first three 3-pointers in Orlando, then missed 15 in a row.

They missed all five of their three first-half goals Tuesday night and their first attempt of the second half before Jaylen Sellers snapped a streak of 21 straight misses against BYU with a three-pointer with 18:11 remaining in the second half.

The Knights finished 6 of 22 from beyond the arc on Tuesday thanks to their furious finish.

• BYU continues to struggle to maintain a significant lead in the second half. The Cougars led at halftime for the ninth time in 11 Big Ten games, taking a 39-26 lead into the break behind Robinson's big 3-point shooting.

Waterman's 3s and free throws from the first half gave BYU a 48-29 lead with 17:18 left in the game, but the turnover foul hit, and hit hard, as UCF turned up the heat defensively, put on a vicious full-court press at times and got back into the game.

The Knights turned 17 BYU turnovers into 27 points.