SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (1-5, 0-2 CCAA) will continue CCAA play by hosting Cal Poly Humboldt (2-4, 0-2 CCA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before welcoming No. 10 Chico State (5-1, 1-1 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in The Sports Center.
The CSUSM Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting a holiday toy drive this week. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Cougars’ men’s and women’s basketball doubleheaders on December 7th and 9th will receive free entry. All gifts collected will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club of San Marcos.
LAST WEEK
CSUSM began CCAA play last Thursday with a 76-65 loss to Cal State LA. Charlie Henderson tallied a game- and season-high 20 points.
The Cougars then took a 73-66 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday as Henderson led CSUSM with his second double-double of the season at 15 points and 11 rebounds.
COUGAR FACTS
CSUSM has the second-best free throw percentage in the CCAA at 76.6%.
Taking 29.0 3-point field-goal attempts per game, the Cougars lead the conference and rank 13th nationally.
CSUSM’s 13.3 assists per game rank fourth in the league.
The Cougars’ 27.83 bench points per game are fourth in the CCAA.
Holding opponents to 40.9% from the field, CSUSM has the fifth-best field-goal percentage defense in the conference.
The Cougars also rank fifth in the CCAA in turnover margin at 3.2.
Charlie Henderson’s 58.9 field-goal percentage ranks third in the conference and 52nd nationally.
Camren Pierce ranks third in the CCAA with 4.0 assists per game and has the fourth-best assist/turnover ratio in the league.
Edwyn Collins’ 1.67 steals per game rank sixth in the conference.
To this point, CSUSM has played the second-toughest schedule in the CCAA with opponents tallying a .581 winning percentage.
GAME 7 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023
Time 7:30 p.m.
Location San Marcos, Calif.
Venue The Sports Center
Records CSUSM (1-5, 0-2 CCAA)
HUM (2-4, 0-2 CCAA)
Live Stats SideArm Stats
Live Video ($) CCAA Network
Tickets HomeTown Ticketing
COUGARS AGAINST THE LUMBERJACKS
Humboldt began CCAA play with a 70-53 loss to Cal Poly Pomona last Thursday before falling 65-51 to No. 4 Cal State San Bernardino.
The Lumberjacks have the seventh-best scoring offense in the CCAA at 72.0 points per game while having the next-to-worst scoring defense at 75.7 points allowed per game.
Humboldt is forcing the second-most turnovers per game in the conference at 17.67 and rank 24th nationally.
The Lumberjacks are tallying the second-most bench points per game in the CCAA at 31.00.
Humboldt is the top offensive rebounding team in the conference at 11.83 per game while coming down with the fewest defensive boards per game at 18.00.
The Lumberjacks have the second-best field-goal percentage in the CCAA at 46.5% while their field-goal percentage defense of 50.5% ranks last.
Emanuel Steward has the top 3-point field-goal percentage in the conference at 54.8% and ranks eighth nationally while his 2.83 3-pointers per game also ranks first in the CCAA.
CSUSM is on a three-game winning streak against Humboldt and has won five of the last six games.
The Cougars are 8-5 in the all-time series against the Lumberjacks and are 3-3 when playing Humboldt at The Sports Center.
GAME 8 | CHICO STATE
Date Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023
Time 3 p.m.
Location San Marcos, Calif.
Venue The Sports Center
Records CSUSM (1-5, 0-2 CCAA)
CHICO (5-1, 1-1 CCAA)
Live Stats SideArm Stats
Live Video ($) CCAA Network
Tickets HomeTown Ticketing
WEEKEND FINALE AGAINST NO. 10 CHICO
The Wildcats came in at No. 10 in this week’s NABC Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Chico began CCAA play with a 70-67 loss to No. 4 Cal State Bernardino last Thursday before earning a 65-55 win against Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
The Wildcats will head to Sonoma State on Thursday.
Chico has the top 3-point field-goal defense in the CCAA and ranks eighth in the nation at 26.1%.
The Wildcats’ scoring offense ranks third in the league at 74.5 points per game while their scoring defense of 66.5 points ranks fifth.
Chico has the second-best turnover margin the conference at 5.2.
The Wildcats are coming down with the 10th-most rebounds per game in the CCAA at 32.17.
Adam Afifi is Chico’s top scorer and rebounder at 14.0 points and 5.2 boards per game.
CSUSM and Chico split last season’s series as they each won on their home floor.
The Cougars then got past the Wildcats in the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament with a 104-96 win.
Chico has a slight lead in the all-time series at 8-7 while the series is knotted at 3-3 when playing in San Marcos.
Men’s Basketball Bench
2023-24 OUTLOOK
First-year head coach Nick Booker takes over the reins of the CSUSM men’s basketball program after spending three seasons as an assistant at UC San Diego.
The Cougars return six from last season’s roster, including Edwyn Collins, Chris Howard, Bing Huang, Jermaine Rogers II, Jack Schultz and Donovan Watkins.
CSUSM has nine newcomers for 2023-24, including transfers Uriah Foster, Charlie Henderson, Teagen Hoard, Luc Krystkowiak, Camren Pierce, Mike Pope, Jayden White and Justin White while welcoming true freshman Max Tengan.
The Cougars’ 30-game slate includes two road exhibitions to go along with 13 home games and 15 road games in the regular season.
CSUSM was selected to finish seventh in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
THE BOOKER FILE
Nick Booker became the Cougars’ third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where 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 2004and 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.
