SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (0-2) will return to action this weekend for a pair of neutral site games as it faces Western Washington (2-0) on Friday at 5:15 p.m. before taking on Seattle Pacific (0-3) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. Both games will take place in Azusa at the Felix Event Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific.
 
LAST WEEK

• After a pair of exhibitions to start the year, CSUSM officially began the season this past Friday by hosting Biola, but the Cougars ended up falling 65-57. Dexter Stratton led CSUSM with 17 points.
• The Cougars concluded its first weekend of the regular-season schedule with a 76-59 loss at Concordia University Irvine on Saturday. Austin Nassar led CSUSM with 18 points off the bench in 12 minutes and was the Cougars' lone scorer to reach double figures.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• Recording 10.5 steals per game, CSUSM ranks third in the CCAA and 38th nationally after one weekend.
• The Cougars also committed the third-fewest fouls in the league at 18.0 per game.
• In the opening weekend of play, CSUSM's scoring defense of 70.5 points was the fourth best among CCAA teams.
• Coming down with 24.0 defensive boards per game, CSUSM ranks fifth in the conference while its 10.5 offensive rebounds rank sixth.
• Donovan Watkins has the fourth-best assist/turnover ratio in the CCAA at 3.50 and ranks 46th nationally.
• Kyelin King's 1.5 blocks per game and 2.50 offensive rebounds per game are fifth in the league.

CSUSM VS. WESTERN WASHINGTON

• The Vikings began the season with a 91-89 victory against No. 12 Cal State Dominguez Hills last Friday at home.
• WWU concluded the weekend with a 78-75 win over Cal Poly Humboldt.
• The Vikings have four double-figure scorers in Will Wilson (20.0), Tijan Saine (18.0), Grant Kepley (16.0) and Louis Grante-Halliday (14.5).
• Putting up 6.5 blocks per game so far, WWU ranks 10th nationally.
• The Vikings have the 36th-best field-goal percentage in Division II at 50%.
• Defensively, WWU is allowing opponents to have 3-point field-goal percentage of 25.5%, ranking 37th nationally.
• The Vikings' worst national ranking comes in turnovers per game as they've committed 17.5 so far and rank 231st.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Vikings.
• WWU was picked to finish sixth in the 2024-25 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

CSUSM VS. SPU

• The Falcons are winless to begin the season at 0-3 after suffering a 76-73 loss to Chico State last Friday, a 70-60 loss to Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday and an 88-77 loss against No. 12 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Monday.
• In a cross-town exhibition on Wednesday night, SPU fell 77-62 at Washington.
• Before facing the Cougars on Saturday, the Falcons will face the other Cougars at host Azusa Pacific on Friday.
• Trace Evans and Owen Moriarty are SPU's leading scorers at 13.3 and 10.3 points, respectively.
• This will be the third consecutive season in which CSUSM and SPU have faced each other.
• In the first-ever meeting in 2022-23, the Cougars earned an 86-75 victory at The Sports Center before falling 73-66 last year in Seattle.
• SPU was picked to finish seventh in the 2024-25 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

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 10-20 (.333).