SAN MARCOS, Calif. – In the midst of its final homestand, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (5-13, 5-19 CCAA) will play its final two home games of the season against Stanislaus State (10-14, 7-11 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Cal State Monterey Bay (6-17, 3-15 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m. at The Sports Center.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, CSUSM will honor seniors Uriah Foster and Donovan Watkins.

At halftime of Thursday's game, CSUSM will honor the 2024 CSUSM softball team with a banner ceremony celebrating their CCAA Tournament Championship from last season.
 
PREVIOUS GAMES

• Over the weekend, CSUSM fell 60-53 to Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday before taking an 80-50 loss to Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday.
• Making up a previously postponed game against Sonoma State, the Cougars earned an 82-72 win against the Seawolves on Monday night.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM is the top offensive rebounding team in the CCAA at 11.63 per game.
• The Cougars are the fourth-best rebounding team in the conference at 34.83 and have the second-best rebound margin at 4.1.
• Scoring 23.71 bench points per game, the Cougars rank second in the league.
• Making 16.2 free throws per game, CSUSM leads the CCAA.
• Keavie Love's 80.8 free throw percentage ranks second in the conference.
• Dexter Stratton's 6.6 rebounds per game ranks sixth in the league.

COUGARS AGAINST THE WARRIORS

• Stanislaus State enters the weekend ninth in the CCAA standings at 7-11.
• The Warriors fell 73-70 to Cal State Dominguez Hills last Thursday before taking an 83-79 loss to Cal State LA on Sunday.
• Stanislaus has the fifth-best scoring defense in the CCAA at 71.2 points allowed per game but the ninth-best scoring offense at 69.0 points per game.
• The Warriors' field-goal percentage of 42.9 is next-to-last in the conference.
• Jeremiah Jones is the second-best scorer in the CCAA at 18.8 points per game. His 89.3 free throw percentage leads the conference and ranks 15th nationally.
• Daniel Ameyaw's 7.6 rebounds per game rank third in the league while his 5.42 defensive boards per game lead the conference.
• CSUSM won the first meeting of the season against Stanislaus by a score of 66-54 in Turlock on Jan. 25 as Dexter Stratton led the Cougars with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• The Cougars have won seven consecutive games against the Warriors dating back to Jan. 30, 2020, including four straight at The Sports Center.
• CSUSM is 12-3 in the all-time series against Stanislaus and is 6-1 when playing at home.

HOME FINALE AGAINST THE OTTERS

• CSUMB enters the weekend last in the CCAA standings at 3-15.
• The Otters are in the middle of a six-game skid and losses in eight of the last nine games.
• This past weekend, CSUMB fell 82-77 to Cal State LA on Thursday before taking an 82-65 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday.
• Before traveling to San Marcos, the Otters will make a stop at Sonoma State on Thursday.
• CSUMB's scoring defense of 72.5 points allowed per game ranks seventh in the CCAA while its scoring offense of 70.3 points per game ranks eighth.
• The Otters are the second-best rebounding (36.30) and blocking (4.3) team in the CCAA.
• Holding opponents to 42.9% from the field, CSUMB ranks third in the conference, but its own field-goal percentage of 44.0 ranks eighth.
• Blake Jones is the second-best rebounder in the conference at 7.8 per game while ranking fourth in blocks per game at 1.22.
• Jaden Tengan is the Otters' leading scorer at 13.5 points per game and is dishing out the most assists at 2.8 per game.
• CSUSM won the first meeting of the season against CSUMB by a score of 71-64 on Jan. 23 as Dexter Stratton led the Cougars with 20 points and five rebounds.
• The Cougars own a 10-5 lead in the all-time series against the Otters and are 5-2 when playing at home.

 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 15-37 (.288).