SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (1-14, 1-8 CCAA) will begin a four-game road trip with stops at Cal State Monterey Bay (5-10, 2-8 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Stanislaus State (7-9, 4-6 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM concluded its four-game home stand with a 77-67 loss to Chico State and a 64-56 loss to Cal Poly Humboldt.
• Keavie Love led the Cougars in both games with 16 points against the Wildcats and 12 points against the Lumberjacks.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars are coming down with a CCAA-best 11.87 offensive rebounds per game.
• CSUSM is outrebounding the opposition by 2.5 boards per game, ranking third in the conference. Overall, CSUSM ranks sixth is rebounds per game at 33.93.
• The Cougars are making the second-most free throws per game in the league at 15.3 while taking the second-most attempts at 21.9.
• Scoring 23.33 bench points per game, CSUSM ranks second in the CCAA in the category.
• Keavie Love has the third-best free throw percentage in the conference at 80.7.
• Dexter Stratton's 6.5 rebounds per game rank sixth in the CCAA. His 4.47 defensive boards rank eighth while his 2.00 on the offensive side rank ninth.
• Stratton continues to lead CSUSM with 11.1 points per game while Love is second at 10.7.

MEETING THE OTTERS IN SEASIDE

• The Otters are coming off a weekend in which they won 76-65 at Cal Poly Pomona and lost 56-55 at Cal State San Bernardino.
• Monterey Bay is 11th in the CCAA standings with a conference record of 2-8.
• Its lone home win this season was in non-conference play against future CCAA member UC Merced on Dec. 12.
• The Otters have the third-best scoring defense in the conference at 69.8 points allowed per game, but their scoring offense of 68.0 points per game ranks 10th.
• CSUMB is coming down with 37.27 rebounds per game, ranking second in the CCAA.
• The Otters are holding opponents to 41.8% from the field, ranking second in the league.
• CSUMB is forcing the fewest turnovers per game in the conference at 9.87.
• Blake Jones is the CCAA's top rebounder at 7.9 per game while also leading the way in offensive boards at 2.80.
• Jaden Tengan is the conference's top free throw shooter and ranks seventh nationally at 92.7%.
• The Otters are on a two-game winning streak against the Cougars as they took both of last season's meetings.
• CSUSM is 9-5 in the all-time series against CSUMB and is 4-3 when playing in Seaside.

STANISLAUS ON SATURDAY

• Before facing CSUSM, Stanislaus will take on Sonoma State on Thursday.
• The Warriors are currently in a three-way tie for seventh in the CCAA standings.
• Stan State enters the week on a three-game skid after suffering losses of 65-52 and 67-47 at Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona, respectively, this past week.
• The Warriors are committing the second-fewest turnovers per game in the CCAA at 12.0 – its best statistical category.
• Stanislaus is allowing 70.6 points per game, ranking sixth in the league, but its scoring offense of 68.4 points per game ranks ninth.
• The Warriors have the second-worst 3-point defense in the conference as opponents are knocking down 38.2% of shots.
• On the flip side, Stan State has the second-worst field-goal percentage at 42.7.
• Jeremiah Jones is scoring the third-most points per game in the CCAA at 18.3 and has the fourth-best field-goal percentage at 48.6.
• Daniel Ameyaw's 7.3 boards per game rank fourth in the conference while his 5.56 defensive rebounds per game lead the league.
• The Cougars have won the past six meetings against the Warriors dating back to Jan. 30, 2020.
• CSUSM has a commanding 11-3 lead in the all-time series against Stanislaus and is 5-2 when playing in Turlock.

 
2024-25 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will have a new look this season as 10 of its 13 student-athletes are newcomers to the program.
• Four of CSUSM's 11 newcomers are freshmen while the other six are four-year/community college transfers.
• The Cougars return three student-athletes from last year's roster in senior Uriah Foster, sophomore Max Tengan and redshirt junior Donovan Watkins.
• Tengan is CSUSM's leading scorer among returners at 9.0 points per game while dishing out 2.2 assists per game and shooting 35.8% from beyond the arc.
• CSUSM was picked to finish 10th in the 2024-25 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE BOOKER FILE

• Nick Booker enters his second season at the helm of CSUSM men's basketball after he became the Cougars' third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
• In his first season in 2023-24, Booker's Cougars tied for eighth in the CCAA standings and earned statement wins over No. 10 Chico State and No. 22 and eventual semifinalist Cal State San Bernardino.
• Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where he 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 2004 and 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.
• Booker has a career record of 11-32 (.256).