SAN DIEGO – San Diego State guard Taj Degourville has been named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the week ending November 17. The announcement was made for the league office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
In the Aztecs lone game last week, a 100-49 victory over Occidental on Tuesday, the Las Vegas native had a stat line that included 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals without a turnover in just over 20 minutes of game action. His points, rebounds, assists, and steals were all season highs.
It was his first double digit scoring game and he is just the third true freshman this season to have a game of at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists with zero turnovers.
He entered the first half with the Aztecs up 25-2 at the 13:24 mark and made an immediate impact. He quickly assisted on a pair of Kimo Ferrari 3-pointers, on back-to-back possessions, and then on the next possession made a triple of his own. He grabbed three defensive boards, each of which ended an Occidental possession with a single shot attempt.
In the second half he checked into the game with 17:11 to play and grabbed two more defensive rebounds, again limiting Occidental to a single shot and assisted on back-to-back buckets from Nick Boyd. Then in the midst of a 19-0 run, scored on three 3-pointers and assisted on a Magoon Gwath alleyoop dunk. Later in the half, his lone offensive board resulted in a putback for 6-5 guard.
This is DeGourville’s first Freshman Player of the Week award from the Mountain West and the first for an Aztec this season.
San Diego State hosts No. 4 Gonzaga this evening at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT) and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.