SAN DIEGO » Leading scorer Kawhi Leonard and Chase Tapley were too sick to play for No. 11 San Diego State against Cal Poly last night.

The Aztecs’ shooting was pretty ill, too.

Malcolm Thomas had 18 points and 15 rebounds and the Aztecs struggled to beat Cal Poly 51-45 to improve to 11-0 for the first time in school history.

SDSU shot only 34.8 percent (16-for-46) and missed all 18 3-point attempts.

"It was a bit like running in mud at the offensive end," coach Steve Fisher said. "The harder we tried, the more we missed — 0-for-18 from 3-point range, that’s not us. But we played hard. Obviously we could not throw it in the ocean. And I think that sometimes starts to happen when one guy misses one that’s wide open, then he starts to question himself. It shouldn’t happen, but it did for us tonight."

Fisher said Leonard and Tapley were both feeling ill Saturday night, when SDSU beat San Diego 77-49. Fisher said they both took IVs before this game.

Tapley, who averages 7.8 points, was sent home. Leonard, SDSU’s leading scorer with a 16.3-point average, was on the bench and told Fisher he could play if needed. Fisher said he was tempted to put him in with about 10 minutes to go, but didn’t.

"It was really different without Kawhi and Chase on the court, but we have to play through stuff like that," Thomas said. "We have to defend every game, no matter who’s on the court. That was our main focus today, just defend."

The Aztecs had to rely on Thomas’ inside game, including a thunderous dunk with 3:03 left for a 41-36 lead. That came after Cal Poly’s Shawn Lewis and David Chanson hit 3-pointers to keep the Mustangs (3-6) close.

Cal Poly’s Jamal Johnson was fouled by Billy White with 38.8 seconds left and he made one of two free throws to pull the Mustangs within 43-40.

D.J. Gay then made eight straight free throws in the final 38.3 seconds for the Aztecs. Gay was 1-for-11 from the field, including seven missed 3-point attempts.

"Our goal was to pull a national upset," Cal Poly coach Joe Callero said. "We wanted to try and muck it up and make it as ugly as possible. We specialize in that."

Cal Poly made eight of 22 3-pointers.

WAC

New Mexico State 83, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 49

Freshman Christian Kabongo scored 19 points and the host Aggies ended a seven-game losing streak with a victory over the winless Golden Lions (0-9).

Hernst Laroche added 16 points and six steals, and Bandja Sy had a career-high 15 points for the Aggies (3-7).