Ryan Amoroso didn't think his team was focused when San Diego State got to Alaska.
A scare in the first round of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout got the Aztecs' attention and they looked very much like the pre-tournament favorite in Friday's semifinals.
Amoroso scored 13 points and Kyle Spain led San Diego State with 15, and the Aztecs advanced to the Shootout finals with a grinding 75-56 win over Seattle on Friday night.
The impressive victory over the Redhawks came 24 hours after the Aztecs nearly found themselves in the consolation bracket of the tournament. They barely squeaked past Western Carolina in the first round but that narrow win turned out to be just what the Aztecs needed.
"Against Western Carolina, we didn't come out with any fire or energy," Amoroso said. "The coaches made the adjustments overnight to make sure we did."
Amoroso's backup, Mendhi Cheriet, added 11 points as the Aztecs' quickness and strength simply wore down the undersized and fatigued Redhawks.
"We need to get out there and play against teams like that," Seattle coach Joe Callero said of the Aztecs' power.
The Aztecs (4-1) will face Hampton in the tournament championship game on Saturday night. The Redhawks (4-2) will play Portland State in the third-place game.
Seattle played for the third time in four days, with the only day of rest spent traveling from Fresno, Calif., to Alaska. The fatigue showed in the first half as Seattle shot just 26 percent and was a step slow against the more athletic Aztecs.
The Redhawks' leading scorer, Chris Gweth, was 1-of-5 and missed all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half. Center Austen Powers, who led Seattle with 16 points in its upset of Louisiana Tech in the first round, had just one basket in the first half -- a 3-pointer. He made just 2 of 12 shots and finished with eight points.
Along with that, the Redhawks went to a trapping defense at the start to try and confuse the Aztecs. That spent even more energy and when the shots didn't fall, San Diego State started to wear Seattle down.
"Our defense gave us a chance the first 10 minutes to surprise them," Callero said.
But the depth and quickness of the Aztecs was too much, and allowed them to overcome early foul problems for Spain and Amoroso. SDSU got 17 bench points in the first half, and it took Spain nearly 18 minutes to get his first basket.
By the time Spain -- the Aztecs' scoring leader -- finally got his first points, he was capping a decisive 11-2 run for his team. His 3-pointer with 2:26 left put San Diego State up 29-15 as the Aztecs outscored Seattle 18-6 over the final six minutes of the first half.
The roll continued into the second half as the Aztecs made six of seven shots to start the half and extend the lead to as many as 24 points. San Diego State made eight of 14 3-pointers, including one from Amoroso and two from Cheriet.
"I really think if we get the kinds of shots we got tonight, we'll be a pretty good 3-point shooting team," Aztecs' coach Steve Fisher said.
Seattle made one run midway through the second half, getting within 13, but Spain hit a pair of shots, including a deep 3-pointer, to end any chances of a comeback.
Aaron Broussard and Leigh Swanson each had nine points for Seattle, but Gweth had just five.
