Tapley and Thames come alive in the second half

At halftime of Wednesday’s Reese’s Mountain West Championship against Boise State University, senior guard Chase Tapley only had five points, while junior guard Xavier Thames scored seven points.

In the second half, Tapley and Thames took control of the game. Tapley scored 12 second-half points, while Thames added 11 points in the second half to finish with 18 points.

“We’re better when Xavier plays and when he plays healthy,” SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said. “He’s getting closer to where he was at his best both early this year and last year. So, it’s obvious if we want to be as good as we can, we need Xavier Thames leading.”

Aztecs keep Boise State’s Marks and Drmic under control

In the regular-season finale against San Diego State, sophomore guard Derrick Marks and sophomore forward Anthony Drmic showed the Aztecs why they were the MW’s highest scoring combination and deserved being named to the All-MW second team.

In the last matchup on March 9, Marks exploded for a game-high 27 points, while Drmic added 23. The two combined to shoot 15 of 32 from the floor and put in 50 of Boise State’s 69 points in a 69-65 Broncos win.

It was a different story in the first half of the quarterfinals of the Reese’s MW Championship in Las Vegas. The Aztecs smothered the duo in the first half, as Marks shot 0 for 9 from the field and Drmic was a mediocre 3 of 8 for seven points.

In the second half, Drmic and Marks resembled the players they were in the season finale, as Marks scored all 14 of his points after halftime and Drmic finished with a team-high 20 points after scoring 13 points in the second half. Marks finished the game shooting 4 of 22 from the field and 2 of 5 from 3-point range after missing his first 12 shots of the game. He didn’t score a point until the 12:09 mark in the second half. Drmic finished 7 of 20 shooting from the field and 2 of 9 from 3-point range.