SAN DIEGO—Freshman Kawhi Leonard scored 15 points to lead San Diego State to a 70-48 win over Air Force on Tuesday night.
Malcolm Thomas added 10 points and 12 rebounds as the Aztecs (16-6, 5-3 Mountain West) raised their home record to 24-6 against the Falcons. Reserve Kelvin Davis scored 12 points.
The Aztecs, who have won four of five, held Air Force scoreless for nearly the first 10 minutes. But by the time the Falcons scored their first points with 10:14 left in the first half, San Diego State led only 12-2 because it had missed 15 of 20 shots. The Aztecs, who had a 26-17 halftime lead, led the entire game.
Grant Parker had 14 points and Tom Fow 11 to lead Air Force (9-12, 1-7), which snapped a 22-game conference losing streak by beating Wyoming on Saturday.
Parker hit 3 of 6 3-pointers, while Fow made all three of his 3-point attempts.
San Diego State scored the first 12 points of the game while the Falcons missed their first nine shots and committed four turnovers. Evan Washington scored Air Force’s first points on a tip-in.
The Aztecs shot only 29 percent in the first half, compared with Air Force’s 33.3 percent.
Parker hit a 3-point shot to help the Falcons cut the lead to 28-22 with 18:53 left in the game. But San Diego State responded as D.J. Gay hit 3-point shots on consecutive possessions and Leonard made two free throws to put the Aztecs ahead 42-27 at the 12:19 mark.
San Diego State, which led by at least 12 points the rest of the game, shot 63.6 percent in the second half.
Thomas led the Aztecs’ dominance on the boards, recording his fourth double-double of the season. Thomas had five offensive rebounds to lead San Diego State, which outrebounded Air Force 35-27, including 15 offensive rebounds.
The Aztecs also made 17 of 22 free throws compared with only 1 of 6 for the Falcons.
