SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (0-7, 0-1 CCAA) will begin a three-game homestand on Thursday as it faces No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona (5-1, 1-0 CCAA) in its CCAA home opener at 7:30 p.m. before taking on No. 19 Cal State San Bernardino (7-2, 0-1 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
All fans who bring a new, unwrapped gift for the CSUSM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's toy drive will receive free admission.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM completed the non-conference portion of its schedule last Tuesday against Azusa Pacific but narrowly fell 70-69 in The Sports Center. Micah Boone had a season-high 19 points for the Cougars.
• The Cougars began CCAA play at Sonoma State on Saturday, falling 74-62 in the conference opener as Donovan Watkins led the team with 14 points.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• Donovan Watkins has the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the CCAA at 2.30 while ranking eighth in assists at 3.3 per game.
• Dexter Stratton has the third-best free throw percentage in the conference at 83.3 while ranking seventh in total rebounds with 44.
• The Cougars have the fourth-best team free throw percentage in the CCAA at 73.0, making an average of 14.7 free throws per game.
• CSUSM has the fifth-best rebound margin in the league at 1.1 as the team averages 32.57 boards per game.
• Scoring 24.12 points per game off the bench, the Cougars rank sixth in the CCAA.

CCAA HOME OPENER AGAINST NO. 25 CPP

• The Broncos are 5-1 to begin the season, defeating then-No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino on the road by a score of 67-62 in its CCAA opener this past Saturday.
• With the win, CPP went from unranked to No. 25 in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Poll on Tuesday.
• CPP's lone loss this season came in its lone home game so far against Biola on Nov. 16, falling 83-79 to the Eagles.
• The Broncos have the second-best scoring defense in the conference at 66.8 points allowed per game while its scoring offense ranks seventh at 74.3 points per game.
• CPP is the hottest shooting team from the perimeter in the conference with a 37.7 3-point field-goal percentage and an average of 8.2 makes per game.
• The Broncos rank third in the league in both field-goal percentage (46.2) and field-goal percentage defense (42.4).
• CPP has a pair of double-digit scorers in Demarreya Lewis-Cooper and Shyheim Parm as they average 13.7 and 12.3 points per game, respectively.
• Lewis-Cooper ranks second in the CCAA with a 93.8 free throw percentage and eighth in field-goal percentage at 48.4.
• The Cougars and Broncos split last season's series as each won on the other's home floor.
• CPP holds the slight edge in the all-time series at 8-7 and is 4-2 against CSUSM when playing in The Sports Center.

 SATURDAY AGAINST NO. 19 CSUSB

• The Coyotes dropped from seventh to 19th in the NABC Division II Top 25 Poll after suffering its 67-62 loss at previously unranked Cal Poly Pomona this past Saturday – snapping a seven-game winning streak.
• Prior to facing the Cougars, CSUSB will travel to Sonoma State on Thursday night.
• The Coyotes' lone non-conference loss came to Saint Martin's in the season opener on Nov. 1.
• CSUSB has a quartet of double-digit scorers in Giordan Williams (16.8), Andrew Henderson (15.1), Evan Oliver (11.1) and former Cougar Charlie Henderson (10.6). Williams and Andrew Henderson's averages rank seventh and ninth in the CCAA, respectively.
• The Coyotes have the nation's third-best 3-point field-goal percentage defense at 23.8 while its field-goal percentage defense leads the conference at 41.8.
• CSUSB has the top scoring defense in the CCAA at 66.6 points allowed per game and has the best scoring margin at 10.3 points. Its scoring offense ranks fifth at 76.9 points.
• The Coyotes rank second in the league with a 46.5 field-goal percentage as Williams leads the conference at 62%.
• CSUSM split last season's series with CSUSB as each won on the other's home floor.
• CSUSB leads the all-time series at 10-5, but the series is knotted at 3-3 when CSUSM is playing at home.

2024-25 OUTLOOK

• CSUSM will have a new look this season as 13 of its 16 student-athletes are newcomers to the program.
• Six of CSUSM's 13 newcomers are freshmen while the other seven 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 10-25 (.286).