SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (6-20, 6-14 CCAA) will conclude its season this weekend with a pair of road games at Cal Poly Humboldt (15-10, 11-9 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and at No. 20 Chico State (21-5, 17-3 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM played its final two home games of the season against Stanislaus State and Cal State Monterey Bay.
• The Cougars fell 78-63 to the Warriors on Thursday as Micah Boone led CSUSM with 20 points and eight rebounds.
• CSUSM closed out its home schedule with a 72-67 win over the Otters on Saturday as senior Donovan Watkins led the Cougars with a career-high 27 points while fellow senior Uriah Foster pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM is the top offensive-rebounding team in the CCAA at 11.81 per game while its rebound margin of 4.5 also leads the league.
• Pulling down 35.12 rebounds per game, the Cougars rank fourth in the CCAA.
• The Cougars continue to average 16.0 made free throws per game to lead the conference.
• CSUSM is scoring the third-most bench points per game in the CCAA at 22.77.
• The Cougars have the sixth-best scoring defense in the conference at 72.9 points allowed per game.
• Keavie Love's 82.0 free throw percentage is third in the CCAA.
• Dexter Stratton's 6.5 rebounds per game rank eighth in the league.
• Stratton continues to lead the team with 11.8 points per game.

THURSDAY AT HUMBOLDT

• Already with a spot in the CCAA Tournament locked up, the Lumberjacks will be jockeying for position in its final two games against CSUSM and Sonoma State.
• This past weekend, Humboldt fell 70-65 at CCAA leader Cal State Dominguez Hills before earning a 77-72 win at Cal State LA.
• The Lumberjacks won the first meeting of the season against the Cougars on Jan. 18 by a score of 64-56, snapping a five-game winning streak by CSUSM in the all-time series.
• The Cougars are 10-6 in the all-time series against the Lumberjacks and are 6-2 when playing in Arcata.
• CSUSM has won the past six meetings against Humboldt in Arcata. The Cougars' last loss occurred on Nov. 26, 2016.
• The Lumberjacks' 5.1 blocks per game lead the conference and rank ninth nationally.
• Shooting 47.5%, Humboldt has the CCAA's top field-goal percentage.
• The Lumberjacks' 15.56 fastbreak points per game are the most in the league.
• Humboldt's scoring offense of 77.5 points ranks third in the conference, but its scoring defense of 74.8 points allowed per game ranks next-to-last.
• Rob Diaz is the sixth-best scorer in the CCAA at 16.0 points per game while his 51.3 field-goal percentage leads the league.
• Kyle Frelow is the top rebounder in the conference at 8.7 per game.

SEASON FINALE AT NO. 20 CHICO STATE

• The Wildcats came in at No. 20 in this week's NABC Top 25 Poll, moving up five spots. This will be the Cougars' fourth ranked opponent of the season.
• Chico is on a six-game winning streak and has already locked up a bye and one of the top two spots in the CCAA Tournament.
• This past weekend, the Wildcats earned a 93-90 victory at Cal State LA on Thursday before recording an 86-79 win at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday.
• In their first meeting on Jan. 16, the Cougars fell 77-67 to the Wildcats at The Sports Center.
• CSUSM is 8-10 in the all-time series against Chico and is 2-6 when playing in Chico.
• The Wildcats have the top-scoring offense in the CCAA at 79.1 points per game while its scoring defense ranks 10th at 73.7 points allowed per game.
• Chico's 11.6 turnovers per game are the fewest in the conference.
• The Wildcats have the best 3-point defense in the league as it's holding opponents to 30.5%.
• Jojo Murphy is the CCAA's top scorer at 20.6 points per game and has the league's best 3-point percentage at 40.4.

 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 16-38 (.296).