No. 5 San Diego State 64, Air Force 56: Winston Shepard scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and added nine rebounds as the Aztecs returned to the win column with an impressive defensive effort against the visiting Falcons.

Dwayne Polee II had 13 points and five rebounds while Xavier Thames added 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting for San Diego State (22-2, 11-1 Mountain West), which had its 20-game winning streak snapped with Tuesday's 68-62 loss at Wyoming. Josh Davis contributed seven points and 10 rebounds and the Aztecs held the Falcons to 37.5 shooting, including 5-of-20 from 3-point range.

Max Yon led Air Force (10-14, 4-9) with 20 points and Kamryn Williams added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Leading scorer Tre' Coggins struggled for the second consecutive game and finished with nine points on 2-of-14 shooting for the Falcons, who have lost seven of their last eight games.

Air Force missed 12 of its first 13 shots to open the game but trailed only 24-23 at halftime before San Diego State slowly took control after the break. Thames hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 10-0 run and the Aztecs extended the lead to 38-28 with just under 13 minutes remaining.

Yon's three-point play cut the deficit to 41-38 with just over nine minutes left, but San Diego State responded with a 12-2 run and withstood a late Air Force rally to record its 11th straight home win. JJ O'Brien chipped in eight points for the Aztecs, who blocked nine shots and maintained their one game lead over New Mexico in the Mountain West.

GAME NOTEBOOK: San Diego State has held Air Force to 38-percent field-goal shooting or less in five of the last seven meetings. … Coggins, who came in averaging 16.8 points, scored three points in Wednesday's 51-48 win at San Jose State and is 3-of-26 shooting over his last two games. … San Diego State has won nine straight against Air Force at home, all by at least seven points.