BOISE, Idaho – Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 76-68 win at Boise State on Saturday afternoon:

1. The other freshman

With 7:05 left, SDSU starting guard BJ Davis was whistled for his fourth foul and went to the bench. Coach Brian Dutcher looked down it, past the injured Reese Waters, past senior Wayne McKinney III, and motioned for Taj DeGourville, a true freshman.

He never subbed out.

That DeGourville played the final seven minutes of a game with such huge implications tells you a lot about Dutcher, who has never shied away from shaking up the rotation in crunch time and riding the hot hand. It also tells you a lot about the progress of DeGourville, who is emerging from the shadow of redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath and Mountain West preseason freshman of the year Pharaoh Compton.

“Taj just knows how to play,” Dutcher said of the 6-foot-5 guard from Las Vegas. “And he’s just getting better. He’s a freshman, the first time at this level. He’s getting more comfortable. His defense is getting better. He’s an elite-level passer. He knows where everybody is on the floor. It seemed earlier in the year he wouldn’t attack to the rim. He settled for the 3 or got in the paint and passed the ball. Now he’s attacking the rim, and it makes him really dangerous.

“As much as you think you know your team, it’s always a moving target. Guys are getting better, guys are sliding back a half-step. You always have to keep your eyes open to see who’s actually playing well when they’re in the game.”

In 21 minutes, DeGourville finished with 13 points and six rebounds, both career bests against Division I competition. Most of that came in the final 7:05.

He grabbed a defensive rebound. Then he had a steal. Then scored on the break. Then drove, scored, was fouled and completed the three-point play. Then another defensive rebound. Then a put-back off an offensive board. Then another defensive rebound.

“I felt I was playing well, but I knew I had to turn it up to stay out there,” DeGourville said. “So I turned it up. It’s all about getting comfortable. I wasn’t as comfortable as I am now, 12 games in. Having more games and more confidence allows me to show all my game.”

2. Charter members

For the second straight time, SDSU didn’t get to its hotel until the day of an away game.

This wasn’t as fretful as the Dec. 21 game in San Jose against Cal, with two flight cancellations, an overnight in Orange County, most players and coaches flying in the afternoon of the game, the rest of the travel party busing 8½ hours and walking into the SAP Center six minutes before tipoff. The Aztecs’ commercial flight to Boise on Friday night was delayed two hours and landed at midnight.

SDSU won both games despite not having a morning shootaround to acclimate to the arena’s rims, lighting and sightlines. And both wins were accompanied by big jumps in the metrics, from 42 to 34 in Kenpom and 48 to 35 in the NET after Saturday.

They also were playing with fire. If their Friday flight on Alaska Airlines had been canceled, as it had the night before with fog blanketing San Diego, finding 20-plus open seats on a commercial carrier to reach Boise for a 2 p.m. MST tip would have been challenging, if not impossible.

Charter flights can be delayed as well, but there is more flexibility. In the case of coastal fog, for instance, the plane can retrieve you from a non-commercial inland airport. You also can fly home immediately after a game, instead of, as the Aztecs endured Saturday, middle seats on a pair of Southwest flights via Phoenix that arrived at 10 p.m.

That beat last year’s commercial return from Boise, which involved a lengthy weather delay changing planes in Portland and, in Dutcher’s words, “took us two days to get home, it seemed.”

Boise State charters everywhere. While the Aztecs were sitting in the airport waiting for their Alaska Airlines crew to arrive on another flight, USD was chartering to Saturday’s game at Oregon State.

“That’s tough. That is tough,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said of SDSU’s midnight arrival followed by a two-leg trip home. “You might not see the effects initially, but it can be cumulative. The moment the game gets over, you’re getting ready for the next game, getting your bodies right, getting your minds right, getting the scouting done. There’s a lot to do, and if you’re spending your whole time traveling, it has an effect, no doubt.”

To that end, the worst might be behind the Aztecs.

The program is typically allotted four charter legs per season, and they have yet to use any. And boosters have chipped in for two more legs, allowing for five of their remaining eight Mountain West road trips to involve charters at least one way.

The Aztecs will charter home from New Mexico, Air Force, Nevada and Utah State. They’ll also charter to and from Wyoming, which otherwise requires a commercial flight to Denver followed by a 2½-hour bus ride over a snowy mountain pass prone to high winds.

They’ll fly commercial home after the March 4 game at UNLV, with four days before hosting Nevada. Same for the Feb. 11 game at San Jose State, with four days before hosting Boise State.

“Chartering is obviously nicer when you’re able to do it,” Dutcher said. “When we can, we’re eternally grateful.”

3. ExtraQuiet Arena

Dutcher and his players uniformly praised the Viejas Arena crowd despite their 67-66 home loss against Utah State on Dec. 28. The students were still on break. It was nonetheless sold out and loud — like, really loud.

Not so at ExtraMile Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The one time the decibels cranked up was when the Broncos momentarily tied it at 58-58 with 6:43 left, but Dutcher called timeout and the Aztecs went on a 7-0 run that put fans back in their seats.

The lethargy did not go unnoticed.

“Was dead for a game of this magnitude,” B.J. Rains, publisher of Bronco Nation News, tweeted. “Really odd. Place should have been electric. Instead felt similar to the Air Force game two weeks ago. And that’s mostly on the fans, but I think more could be done to get the energy rising closer to tipoff.”

To be fair, it’s a maturation process. Viejas Arena wasn’t always so rowdy, especially outside the 2,500-seat student section. But an aging season-ticket holder base, to its credit, has learned over the years when to generate noise and energy, and the staff operating the music and video boards inside Viejas knows exactly how to push those buttons.

“Had ‘fans/donors’ in front of my seats yell at my wife for my kids getting loud in the past,” Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey tweeted after the game Saturday. “Basketball is not tennis. We will find a solution. The best basketball atmospheres in the country are the loudest.

“Days of sitting and golf clapping are over.”

Originally Published: January 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM PST