SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (10-17, 9-12 CCAA) will finish its 2023-24 season at Sonoma State (14-13, 10-11 CCAA) on Thursday in Rohnert Park.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM fell in both of its games to the Bay Area this past weekend with an 89-83 loss at Cal State East Bay on Thursday and a 70-60 loss at San Francisco State on Saturday.
• The loss to the Gators eliminated the Cougars from potentially playing in the postseason as SF State clinched the sixth and final spot in the CCAA Tournament.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• Edwyn Collins is the CCAA's top scorer at 17.8 points per game while also averaging the most steals at 1.96 per game. He ranks fourth in the CCAA with 3.1 assists per game and seventh at 6.9 rebounds per game.
• Collins has five double-doubles this season, including four in the last five games.
• Collins' 480 points for the year are currently the ninth most in a single season at CSUSM.
• Mike Pope has made the most 3-pointers in the CCAA this season at 65 and leads the conference with 2.41 per game.
• Charlie Henderson has the third-best field-goal percentage in the conference at 53.1% and ranks fourth for blocks per game at 0.96.
• Making 8.9 3-pointers per game, CSUSM leads the CCAA while ranking fourth in 3-point field-goal percentage at 34.5%.
• The Cougars have the second-best turnover margin in the conference at 2.9 and rank 27th nationally.
• Additionally, CSUSM is third in the league at 12.2 turnovers per game while ranking fourth with 15.07 forced turnovers per game.
• The Cougars have the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the CCAA at 1.13 while also ranking second with 13.8 assists per game.

SEASON FINALE AT SONOMA STATE

• The Seawolves were eliminated from postseason contention this past weekend.
• Sonoma fell to San Francisco State for the second time this season on Thursday, conceding the potential tiebreaker to the Gators.
• On Saturday, the Seawolves earned an 85-72 win at Cal State East Bay, but it was too late to clinch a spot in the CCAA Tournament as SF State earned the final berth.
• SSU has the 14th-best scoring defense in the nation at 65.9 points allowed per game, ranking second in the CCAA. On the opposite end, the Seawolves have the next-to-worst scoring offense in the conference at 66.3 points per game.
• The Seawolves are holding opponents to 41% from the field this season, ranking 17th nationally and second in the conference.
• Andrew Henderson is SSU's leading scorer at 11.6 points per game while his team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game rank third in the CCAA.
• SSU fell 78-69 to CSUSM at The Sports Center on New Year's Eve.
• In that game, CSUSM tied the program record for most 3-pointers in a single game at 16.
• The Cougars have a commanding 11-3 lead against the Seawolves in the all-time series and are 5-1 when playing in Rohnert Park.
• CSUSM has won the past eight contests against SSU dating back to Feb. 23, 2019.
• The Cougars' lone loss to the Seawolves in Rohnert Park occurred on Feb. 13, 2016.
• With a win, CSUSM would end the season tied for seventh in the CCAA standings.

2023-24 OUTLOOK

• First-year head coach Nick Booker takes over the reins of the CSUSM men's basketball program after spending three seasons as an assistant at UC San Diego.
• The Cougars return six from last season's roster, including Edwyn Collins, Chris Howard, Bing Huang, Jermaine Rogers II, Jack Schultz and Donovan Watkins.
• CSUSM has six newcomers for 2023-24, including transfers Uriah Foster, Charlie Henderson, Teagen Hoard, Luc Krystkowiak and Mike Pope while welcoming true freshman Max Tengan.
• The Cougars' 30-game slate includes two road exhibitions to go along with 13 home games and 15 road games in the regular season.
• CSUSM was selected to finish seventh in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE BOOKER FILE

• Nick Booker became the Cougars' third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
• Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where was the Tritons' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons beginning in June 2020.
• Prior to UCSD, Booker was the associate head coach at Eastern Washington from April 2017 through May 2020 and was named the top assistant coach in the Big Sky Conference by Stadium.
• While at Eastern Washington, Booker helped the Eagles win 59 games overall and a Big Sky Conference Championship in 2019-20 while helping develop two Big Sky Players of the Year.
• Before Eastern Washington, Booker was the director of basketball operations at Davidson College in 2016-17 after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at UC Irvine from April 2011 to March 2016, where he was also the director of basketball operations for one season prior.
• Booker's first coaching gig as an assistant came at Miramar Community College in 2006-07, and he later became the assistant coach and interim head coach at Saddleback Community College from July 2007 through August 2010.
• Booker earned his bachelor's in history at Davidson College in 2004and earned his master's in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2010.
• At Davidson, Booker was a starter for the 2002 Southern Conference Championship team that faced Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament and contributed to back-to-back regular-season conference championships in 2001 and 2002.