Updated

Xavier Thames posted 17 points to lead No. 18 San Diego State to a 76-49 win over Point Loma Nazarene.

Chase Tapley gave 15 points while James Rahon added nine for the Aztecs (9-1), who have won nine straight after opening their season with a loss to Syracuse.

"It was nice to see so many of our guys contribute," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "We feel good that we're 9-1. We are going to move forward and get ourselves ready for Hawaii and play good basketball there."

Taylor Wetherell had 10 points to lead the Sea Lions (2-7), a Division II school that has lost their past five games.

Sorely outmatching their opponents, the Aztecs scored the first nine points of the game before the Sea Lions answered with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to one.

The game stayed close for the next several minutes until San Diego State got another seven points to create some distance.

San Diego State held a lead the rest of the half, but it was only a 35-30 advantage going into the break.

A pair of 3-pointers from Tapley helped San Diego State to a 45-33 lead four minutes into the second half.

A 15-3 run late in the game by San Diego State closed out any chances Point Loma Nazarene had of pulling off the upset.

"I thought we controlled the tempo of the game for a long stretch," said Point Loma Nazarene coach Bill Carr. "But let me tell you something, that team over there in that other locker room is really good. You make a mistake and they're on a seven- or eight-point run."

Game Notes

San Diego State plays at San Francisco on Saturday ... San Diego State has won nine of the 14 games in the series with Point Loma Nazarene ... The Aztecs shot 54.9 percent in the game, while the Sea Lions made just 36.7 percent of their attempts.