SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (3-16, 3-10 CCAA) will return to The Sports Center to face San Francisco State (8-12, 6-8 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before facing Cal State East Bay (9-11, 7-7 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM fell 64-58 at Cal State LA on Thursday as Micah Boone led the Cougars with 20 points.
• The Cougars ended the weekend with a 79-66 loss to CCAA leader Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday while Kyelin King racked up 20 points for CSUSM.

 
COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM enters the weekend 2.5 games out of being in CCAA Tournament contention as Cal Poly Pomona, Stanislaus State, Cal State LA and San Francisco State are all tied for sixth place.
• The Cougars' bench continues to provide value as it's scoring 23.37 points per game, ranking second in the conference.
• CSUSM is coming down with the second-most defensive rebounds per game at 11.84 and has the second-best rebound margin at 3.6.
• The Cougars are racking up the fifth-most rebounds per game in the league at 34.32.
• CSUSM is averaging the most made free throws per game in the CCAA at 16.2 while taking the most attempts at 22.7.
• Keavie Love has the third-best free throw percentage in the conference at 82.2 while making the third-most at 88.
• Dexter Stratton's 6.6 boards per game rank eighth in the league.

COUGARS AGAINST THE GATORS

• SF State enters the week in a four-way tie for sixth in the CCAA standings.
• The Gators split last week's set of games, winning 77-72 in overtime at Cal State Monterey Bay before falling 61-57 at Stanislaus State.
• This will be the second meeting of the season between CSUSM and SF State as the Gators won the first meeting in San Francisco by a score of 80-72 on Jan. 4.
• SF State has the third-best scoring defense in the CCAA at 70.3 points allowed per game, but its scoring offense of 67.0 points ranks next-to-last.
• The Gators are holding the opposition to a 43.0 field-goal percentage, fourth best in the conference.
• SF State is last in the league with a 64.4 free throw percentage.
• Tyjean Burrell leads the Gators with 14.3 points per game.
• Pearse Uniacke leads the CCAA with 2.20 blocks per game and ranks 13th nationally.
• Uniacke and John Bakke rank ninth and 10th in the CCAA with 6.3 and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively.
• The Gators have won the past four meetings against the Cougars and lead the all-time series at 10-6.

WEEKEND FINALE AGAINST EAST BAY

• The Pioneers enter the week fifth in the CCAA standings.
• East Bay earned a pair of wins last weekend with a 79-69 victory at Stanislaus State on Thursday before a 78-76 win at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.
• CSUSM won the first matchup against CSUEB on Jan. 2 by a score of 68-66 in Hayward, snapping a three-game winning streak by the Pioneers. Micah Boone led the game with 21 points.
• The Pioneers have the ninth-best scoring defense in the CCAA at 72.9 points allowed per game while maintaining the seventh-best scoring offense at 70.1 points per game.
• Coming up with 9.7 steals per game and 16.75 forced turnovers per game, East Bay ranks second in the conference in both categories.
• The Pioneers foul the most in the CCAA at 19.5 per game.
• CSUEB is turning over the ball at a rate of 15.2 per game – the second most in the league.
• Beril Kabamba and Tyree Campbell lead the Pioneers with 13.1 and 12.8 points per game, respectively.
• CSUSM is 11-6 in the all-time series against CSUEB and is 7-1 when playing the Pioneers 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 13-34 (.277).