Kyle Leibel - The Sporting Tribune
Freshman forward Magoon Gwath (0) shoots a floater during a conference matchup against Colorado State, Tuesday, January 14, 2025, in San Diego, CA.
FINAL: San Diego State 71, San José State 68
SAN DIEGO — Back on The Mesa after a pair of wins at elevation, the San Diego State Aztecs welcome the San José State Spartans for the midway mark of the conference slate and a 7:40 p.m. tip at Viejas Arena on Tuesday night.
Magoon Gwath earned his first Mountain West Freshman of the Week honor after picking up his second career double-double and shot 7 of 7 on Saturday, Jan. 25 when SDSU (13-5, 6-3 Mountain West Conference) earned the program’s second-largest win at Nevada.
He and fellow freshmen Taj DeGourville (Nov. 18, Jan. 6) and Pharaoh Compton (Dec. 2, Dec. 9) have earned the acknowledgement five of the 11 times it has been announced this season. After not having a freshman earn the nod since the conference instituted it in the 2021-22 season, the Aztecs join Air Force as the only program to have three different players awarded it in a season.
After scoring in double-figures in eight of 10 non-conference games, Nick Boyd has scored 10-plus in three of the nine conference contests and just one of his last five. However, when not scoring as much he’s been finding teammates at a higher rate — Boyd is averaging 4.4 assists when scoring less than 10 and 3.0 when in double-digits.
Fans will once again be seeing red as the Aztecs will break out their Scarlet uniforms for the third time this season — they defeated University of San Diego and won at Air Force, improving to 4-0 in the alternates under head coach Brian Dutcher.
Since losing to Utah State on Jan. 7, San José State (10-11, 3-6) has won three of four including their home upset of New Mexico, as well as wins at Air Force and against Wyoming. During that stretch opponents have shot 41.5% from the field and 28.6% from 3 — SJSU has allowed opponents to shoot 44.9% overall and 32.4% from downtown for the season. Their 3-point defense is second-best in the conference.
Senior guard Josh Uduje leads the Mountain West’s No. 4 offense with 15.6 points per game, while redshirt junior guard Will McLendon averages 12.7 points. Sophomore guard Latrell Davis has been the primary weapon off the bench, averaging 9.1 points and had a career-high 22 points against Wyoming. 6-foot-8 redshirt junior center Robert Vaihola tops the conference with 3.11 offensive rebounds per game and leads SJSU averaging 7.1 caroms per contest.
Catch up on coverage leading into Tuesday: