SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Riding a four-game winning streak, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (10-7, 9-3 CCAA) will round its four-game homestand by facing Cal Poly Pomona (9-6, 6-5 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before concluding with No. 12/14 Cal State San Bernardino (14-2, 9-1 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in The Sports Center.

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars began their homestand with a 56-48 win against Cal State East Bay last Thursday as Greg Milton III tallied 20 points – his seventh game with 20-plus points this season.
• CSUSM posted an 85-78 victory on Saturday with their 11th overtime win in program history as Quinn Denker scored a career-high 27 points for the Cougars.
• The weekend's results gave CSUSM a two-game cushion for second place heading into the latter half of CCAA play.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM's turnover margin of 4.0 ranks 19th in Division II and leads the CCAA.
• Shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc, the Cougars rank 20th nationally and lead the conference.
• Committing just 11.3 turnovers per game, CSUSM ranks 24th in the country and first in the league.
• The Cougars' assist/turnover ratio of 1.24 ranks 42nd nationally and leads the CCAA.
• Allowing opponents to muster just 67.0 points per game, CSUSM has the top scoring defense in the conference.
• The Cougars' 47.0 field-goal percentage ranks second in the CCAA.
• Outscoring opponents by 2.4 points per game, CSUSM has the second-best scoring margin in the conference.
• The Cougars are getting 7.9 steals per game to rank second in the CCAA.
• Now playing at just over 36 minutes per game, Greg Milton III ranks 20th nationally and first in the CCAA in the category.
• Jayce McCain's assist/turnover ratio of 2.79 ranks 23rd nationally and second in the conference.
• Joel Mensah's has the CCAA's second-best field-goal percentage at 56.7 while coming down with the league's second-most rebounds per game at 8.5.

THURSDAY AGAINST THE BRONCOS

• The Cougars and Broncos will meet for the second time this season on Thursday.
• CPP won the previous meeting on Jan. 7 by a score of 57-46 as Joel Mensah led the game with 18 rebounds and 15 points.
• CSUSM is 5-7 in the all-time series against CPP and is 1-3 when playing at home.
• The Cougars' lone home win against Broncos occurred on Jan. 12, 2017.
• The Broncos won a tight pair of games last weekend with a 72-71 overtime victory against Cal Poly Humboldt and a 57-55 win against Sonoma State.
• Christopher Mitchell leads the Broncos' efforts at 12.5 points per game.
• CPP has the CCAA's second-best scoring defense at 68.8 points per game while accounting the 10th-best scoring offense at 68.3.
• The Broncos lead the league with 8.8 steals per game and 16.47 forced turnover per game.
• CPP has the second-best field-goal percentage defense in the conference at 41.9.
• The Broncos are currently fifth in the CCAA standings.
• CPP is just 2-4 on the road this season with victories coming at Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State.

TOP OF THE LEAGUE SHOWDOWN

• CSUSM and CSUSB will meet for the second time this year on Saturday after the Coyotes visit Cal State LA on Saturday.
• The Coyotes won the previous meeting 74-65 on Jan. 5 in San Bernadino as Greg Milton III led the game with 26 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double.
• The Cougars are 3-7 in the all-time series against the Coyotes and are 2-2 when playing at home.
• CSUSM's last home win against CSUSB occurred on Nov. 30, 2016.
• The first-place Coyotes' lone loss in CCAA play occurred at Stanislaus State on Jan. 12 as they fell 94-84.
• Since that loss, CSUSB has won the past three games against Chico State (109-105), Sonoma State (85-74) and Cal Poly Humboldt (101-76).
• The Coyotes came in at No. 12 in this week's NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll while moving to No. 14 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll.
• CSUSB is the nation's top rebounding team at 45.94 rebounds per game and a rebound margin of 15.1.
• The Coyotes lead the conference in both field-goal percentage (49%) and field-goal percentage defense (40.6%).
• CSUSB also leads the CCAA in scoring offense (88.2) and scoring margin (15.1)
• Brandon Knapper leads the Coyotes' offense at 20.9 points per game while Darius Mickens comes down with 8.4 rebounds per game.

A NEW CAMPAIGN

• The Cougars were voted to finish second in the 2022-23 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Nine Cougars return from the 2021-22 team, including All-CCAA first-teamer Jayce McCain and second-teamer Greg Milton III.
• CSUSM is joined this year by five transfers, including sophomore Quinn Denker (West Valley College), redshirt junior Edwyn Collins (Riverside City College), graduate Zack Perlstein (Cal State East Bay), redshirt junior Bing Huang (Johnson County CC) and redshirt junior Chris Howard (Palomar College).
• Rounding out the Cougars' roster of 15 is lone freshman Jermaine Rogers II (Ruben S. Ayala HS).

THE FOSTER FILE

• Head coach B.J. Foster enters his sixth season in charge of the CSUSM Men's Basketball program after taking over the head position in 2016.
• Under his leadership, the Cougars earned their first CCAA Tournament Championship in 2022 and made their first NCAA West Regional appearance.
• Prior to becoming head coach of the Cougars, Foster was an assistant coach with the team from 2013 to 2016.
• Foster has tallied a career record of 89-66 (.574).