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THEMTN.TV SCOREBOARD

MBK: Aztecs Dominate St. Mary's, 69-55


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Dec. 1st, 2010

SAN DIEGO -- Chase Tapley scored 14 points and keyed a 12-3 run late in the first half that helped carry undefeated and San Diego State to a 69-55 win over Saint Mary's on Wednesday night.


Malcolm Thomas had 12 points and six of SDSU's 10 blocked shots. The Aztecs (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) scored 14 of the game's first 16 points and looked sharp five days after a somewhat lethargic effort in an 88-69 home-opening win against San Diego Christian College of the NAIA.

Rob Jones, a transfer from the University of San Diego, made five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 17 points for Saint Mary's. Matthew Dellavedova scored 15.

SDSU is 7-0 for the first time since 2006-07, when it won its first eight games. Saint Mary's (6-2) has lost two straight. The Gaels were coming off a 74-73 loss to No. 21 BYU, a Mountain West Conference rival of SDSU.

This is the fifth straight season the Aztecs and Gaels have played each other. Saint Mary's handed the Aztecs their worst loss last season, 80-58 at Moraga in the second game. A season earlier, the Aztecs beat Saint Mary's 70-66 in San Diego to advance to the semifinals of the NIT.

After Mickey McConnell of Saint Mary's made the game's first basket, the Aztecs scored 14 straight points to take control. Billy White had seven of those points, including a 3-pointer.

Dellavedova made consecutive 3-pointers midway through the half to pull Saint Mary's to 19-15. Dellavedova made a layup with 6:59 left to keep the margin at four points before SDSU went on a 12-3 run to take a 35-22 lead. Tapley scored nine of those points, including two 3-pointers.

SDSU led 37-24 at halftime.

The Aztecs' biggest lead was 55-35 after a layup by White with 10:16 left. Jones hit two 3-pointers during a 12-2 run that closed SDSU's lead to 57-47 with 6:27 left.

D.J. Gay then converted a three-point play to put the Aztecs up by 13.

The start of the game was delayed 18 minutes while the lights at Viejas Arena powered back up after they were turned off for SDSU's pregame introduction.