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No. 18 Aztecs blast San Francisco in Diamond Head opener

Dec 23, 2012 - 2:03 AM Honolulu, HI (Sports Network) - 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.

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.

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.

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

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.