SAN DIEGO – San Diego State guard Taj Degourville is the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the week ending on January 5. The announcement was made from the conference office in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday morning.
Degourville, a native of Las Vegas, totaled 13 points, a season-best against a Division I opponent, and added a team and career-best matching 6six rebounds, with an assist and steal in the Aztecs’ lone game of the week, a Quad 1, 76-68, win at Boise State
He was 4-of-7 (.571) from the field, including 1-of-2 (.500) from beyond the arc, and made 4-of-5 (.800) from the charity stripe in 20:59 of court time, including the critical last 7:05 of the game.
Of his six boards, two were on the offensive glass, which led to two points. His four defensive rebounds resulted in four points going the other way for San Diego State, including going coast-to-coast for a bucket. He scored two points on his own steal and his assist was on a three pointer.
DeGourville, who attended Wasatch Academy last year, entered the game 4:40 into the initial 20 minutes and banked in a triple from the top of the arc to get SDSU to within a point at 8-7. Then with SDSU clinging to a 30-29 lead with 2:20 to go in the half, he knocked down a pair of free throws to help San Diego State to a 33-32 halftime lead.
In the second half, his assist on a Wayne McKinney III 3-pointer at 11:47 pushed the SDSU lead to 52-47. His defensive board at 9:46 led to a Miles Byrd layup to give the Aztecs a 56-50 lead, their largest of the contest to that point.
From 5:52-to-4:38 and with SDSU up 58-57, DeGourville grabbed a defensive board and fed Byrd for a layup. On the following Boise State possession, he stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to make it 62-57. Then after a steal on the next Broncos possession, he hit a driving layup, was fouled and completed the traditional three-point play to make it 65-57. He was directly involved in all seven points in the run, including scoring five of them.
With 2:25 to play and SDSU up 65-59, he grabbed a defensive board, drove the length of the court, missed the shot in the lane, but got his own rebound and scored on a putback to give SDSU its largest lead in the game 67-59. Finally, with 18 seconds to play, he grabbed a rebound, was fouled, and put the game away making 1-of-2 free throws.
This is DeGourville’s second Mountain West Freshman of the Week award having previously earned the honor on November 18, 2024.
The Aztecs, including the reigning Mountain West Freshman of the Week, host the Air Force Falcons on Wednesday, December 8 at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The game is set to tip at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on FS1.