No. 18 Aztecs blast San Francisco in Diamond Head opener
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Chase Tapley dropped in a career-high 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting to go with five rebounds as the 18th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs easily handled San Francisco, 80-58, on Saturday in the Diamond Head Classic.
Tapley drained 6-of-10 shots from beyond the arc, while Jamaal Franklin contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Aztecs (10-1), who have won 10 straight games since a season-opening loss to Syracuse on Nov. 11.
Deshawn Stephens netted 10 points to go with eight boards and Xavier Thames gave 10 points in the Aztecs' 30th consecutive win over a program from the state of California.
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Cole Dickerson scored a team-high 15 points to go with 12 rebounds for the Dons (5-5), who have lost four straight. De'End Parker added 10 points in the setback for San Francisco.
San Francisco got off to a quick 11-4 start leading up to the first media timeout with 14:32 to play in the opening half.
After the timeout, San Diego State ripped off a 12-0 surge, capped by a Thames layup ahead of another TV timeout, to make it a 17-11 game with 11:53 on the first-half clock.
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San Francisco hung around as a layup by Tim Derksen cut the deficit to two, but the Aztecs responded with a 10-2 flurry to snag a 33-23 advantage with less than six minutes to go in the opening half.
Cody Doolin sank a deep trey at the first-half buzzer, but the Dons still trailed, 38-33, at the break.
Tapley led all scorers in the first half with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
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SDSU opened the second half with a quick 7-2 burst to widen the advantage to 45-35 with 14:55 to play, but eight straight from the Dons cut the deficit to 45-43 with 13:11 on the clock.
The Aztecs never gave up the lead, though, using a 12-4 surge to push the lead back to 10 with 9:44 to play before running away with it the rest of the way.
Game Notes
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San Diego State will take on Indiana State in the semifinals on Sunday, San Diego State leads the all-time series, 3-2. The Aztecs took the previous matchup between the teams, 62-56, in the opener of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic ... SDSU shot an efficient 55.2 percent from the floor, while holding the Dons to just 39.6 percent.