SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- After playing the entire first half within single digits, No. 22-ranked Azusa Pacific opened the second half with a 13-4 run and never looked back, leading by double figures the rest of the game in an 85-71 road win over Academy of Art Saturday afternoon at Kezar Pavilion.

"I thought our first half we played very poorly on both ends of the floor, but we had a serious talk at halftime about the team we wanted to be and how we wanted to play on the road," Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie said. "You have to bring your blue collar attitude when you go on the road. In the first half, we didn't play well together defensively, we gave up too many quality looks, and offensively we didn't share the ball. In the second half, we played inside out, shared the ball well, and made a lot of good decisions."

The victory extends a season-long winning streak to eight games and keeps the Cougars in first place in the Pacific West Conference with a 15-3 overall and 9-1 conference record, while Academy of Art drops to 4-13 overall and 2-9 in the PacWest.

Five players scored in double figures for Azusa Pacific, led by a game-high 17 points from senior guard LyDell Cardwell, a Bay Area native from East Palo Alto who scored 21 points two nights earlier in the first game of the Cougars' three-game Bay Area road swing. Senior forward Jared Zoller scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half, hitting all five of his shots including a trio of three-pointers to help Azusa Pacific take a 41-33 halftime lead.

Sophomore forward Austin Dyer posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, combining with Zoller and junior forward Joey Schreiber (10 points) for the Cougars' 40-27 edge in bench scoring. Senior guard Bruce English was also in double figures, scoring 11 of his 14 points in the second half.

Azusa Pacific's PacWest-leading defense held Academy of Art to a 39 percent (25-for-64) shooting effort overall, and the Cougars registered eight blocked shots and posted a 45-25 rebounding margin. Dyer and Zoller combined to make 12-of-16 shots from the field, leading a 53 percent (29-for-55) team shooting performance.

"Physically, we had a huge size advantage, so we felt like we had to crush the boards," Leslie said. "They tried to gamble and get us uncomfortable, and we just had to stay the course and stay solid. Austin and Jared were fantastic off the bench. Jared kept us in the game with his big first half, and this team is deep and has a lot of guys who can step up. They're unselfish, they're prepared to be successful on different nights, and those who aren't having great nights are supportive of the guys who are. I think that bodes well for us moving forward."

Academy of Art broke an early 13-13 tie on a Jase Harrison three-pointer, but Zoller and Dyer combined to score the next seven points to give Azusa Pacific the lead for good. The Urban Knights cut the lead to a single point twice in the first half, but the Cougars finished the opening half by scoring 18 of the final 29 points to take an eight-point edge (41-33) into the break.

Azusa Pacific wraps up its three-game Bay Area road trip Monday night with a visit to Dominican, kicking off the second half of the 20-game PacWest schedule. After Monday's road game, the Cougars return home for six consecutive home games before wrapping up the regular season with three games in Hawai?i.