SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Men's and women's basketball will hit the road this week for Cal State San Marcos Athletics.
 
Men's basketball will get the week started by playing their final non-conference game of the season at RV/No. 19 Azusa Pacific on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars will return to California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play on Saturday as they visit Cal State LA at 7:30 p.m.
 
Women's basketball will spend Thanksgiving in the Aloha State as it takes part in the Malika Sports Oahu Thanksgiving Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Cougars will first face No. 12/13 Minnesota State-Moorhead on Thursday at 4 p.m. before concluding the tournament with Chaminade on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
 
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, Nov. 26 – 7:30 p.m.
CSUSM (4-3, 0-2 CCAA) at RV/No. 19 Azusa Pacific (4-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Azusa, Calif. – Felix Event Center
Live Stats | Watch Live ($)
 
Saturday, Nov. 30 – 7:30 p.m.
CSUSM at Cal State LA (3-3, 0-2 CCAA)
Los Angeles, Calif. – Cal State LA Gymnasium
Live Stats | Watch Live ($)
 
PREVIOUS WEEK

• CSUSM fell 81-54 to No. 4/5 UC San Diego on Thursday before falling in 89-88 in triple overtime to San Francisco State on Saturday at The Sports Center.
• The Cougars' triple-overtime game against the Gators was the first in program history and was one of four in Division II this season.
• CSUSM is fourth in the country for total steals and first in the conference with 70.
• The Cougars' 10 steals per game rank 23rd nationally and second in the CCAA.
• CSUSM's 268 total rebounds lead the league and rank 15th nationally.
• At 100 assists for the year, the Cougars rank 27th nationally and second in the CCAA.
• Jayce McCain ranks third nationally for total steals with 20 while his 2.86 steals per game rank 15th.
• Bryce Sloan's 26 assists rank 64th nationally and third in the CCAA.
• Khalil Fuller's 65.3 field-goal percentage ranks 24th nationally and second in the conference.
• Alex Gil-Fernandez has made the 49th-most field goals in the nation this season with 42.

 
TUESDAY NIGHT AT AZUSA

• When Azusa Pacific takes the court on Tuesday, it will be their first time doing so in 10 days.
• APU last competed at the Aramark GNAC/PacWest Challenge on Nov. 15-16 and came away with wins over Seattle Pacific (72-57) and Western Washington (90-80) in Irvine.
• Earlier in the season, APU defeated CCAA foes Cal Poly Pomona (66-62) and Chico State (97-91) before falling to Cal State LA (90-82) at home.
• APU is ranked second in the latest release of the D2SIDA West Region rankings.
• Nationally, APU received votes in last Tuesday's NABC Poll while coming in at No. 19 in the D2SIDA National Poll.
• As a team, APU averages 5.8 blocked shots per game – seventh most nationally.
• APU's 11 3-point field goals per game rank 22nd nationally and lead the PacWest Conference.
• Selom Mawugbe leads APU in blocked shots per game (4.2), rebounds per game (10.2), total steals (8), field-goal percentage (62.2) and free throws made (20).
• CSUSM is 2-5 in the all-time series against APU and is 1-2 when playing in Azusa.
• APU won last season's game in San Marcos by a score of 84-79, but CSUSM won the previous matchup in Azusa 75-66 in November 2016.
• This will be CSUSM's third game against a ranked opponent this season.

 
FINISHING THE WEEK IN LA

• The Golden Eagles are coming off a rough week in which they lost by 30 points at Cal State East Bay (79-49) before taking a 12-point loss at Humboldt State (93-81).
• Before Saturday's game, the Golden Eagles will host Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday night.
• CSULA loves to steal the ball as the Golden Eagles rank 15th in the country for steals per game at 10.8.
• The Golden Eagles' 10.2 3-point field goals per game rank 56th nationally and third in the CCAA.
• At 4.7 blocked shots per game, CSULA ranks 24th nationally and first in the CCAA.
• Shacquille Dawkins leads the team in points per game (16.7) and steals per game (3.83) while Ja'Sean Lewis leads in assists per game (3.4) and blocked shots per game (2.8).
• CSUSM is 3-4 in the all-time series against CSULA and is 1-2 when playing in LA.
• The Cougars and Golden Eagles have split the season series in each of the last three seasons.
• CSUSM's lone win in LA occurred in December 2017.
• The Cougars and Golden Eagles historically play tight games against each with an average point differential of 4.86.

 
THE FOSTER FILE

• Head coach B.J. Foster enters his fourth season in charge of the CSUSM Men's Basketball program after taking over the head position in 2016.
• Under his leadership, the Cougars advanced to the CCAA Tournament for the first time in 2017-18 after finishing the season with a 15-7 conference record and a 20-9 overall record.
• Prior to becoming head coach of the Cougars, Foster was an assistant coach with the team from 2013 to 2016.
• Foster has tallied a career record of 51-41 (.554).

 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
MALIKA SPORTS OAHU THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii Pacific's The Shark Tank
Live Stats | Watch Live ($)
 
Thursday, Nov. 28 – 4 p.m.
CSUSM (5-0, 3-0 CCAA) vs. No. 12/13 Minnesota State – Moorhead (5-0, 1-0 NSIC)
 
Friday, Nov. 29 – 6:30 p.m.
CSUSM vs. Chaminade (0-3, 0-0 PacWest)

LAST WEEK

• CSUSM remains undefeated at 5-0 after picking up two wins last week.    
• The Cougars made history on Thursday night as they defeated No. 6/6 UC San Diego 69-63 at RIMAC Arena. The win was the Cougars' first over a ranked opponent as a member of the NCAA, and it was their first-ever victory against the Tritons in program history.
• CSUSM followed up the historic win with a 55-43 victory over San Francisco State on Saturday during its annual Homecoming game.
• Akayla Hackson registered a season-high 20 points and went 7-of-7 at the free throw line while playing the entire 40 minutes.  
• CSUSM is leading the conference in field-goal percentage (44.9), 3-point field-goal percentage (36.0), defensive rebounds per game (30.0) and rebounding margin (12.2).
• In the NCAA Division II national statistics, the Cougars are 10th with a 81.2 free-throw percentage.
• CSUSM is holding its opponents to a conference-low 3-point field-goal percentage of 16.4%, ranking the Cougars second in the nation. 
• Stephanie Custodio is the CCAA leader and ranks No. 22 in the nation in free-throw percentage, going 17-of-18 (94.4%) in her first five games.  
• Jon'Nae Vermillion (9.0 rpg, 5th) and Emma Forel (7.8 rpg, 10th) both remain in the CCAA top 10 in rebounding.
• In the latest D2SIDA West Region Poll, the Cougars moved up two spots to No. 3 while UC Diego dropped to No. 5. 

THANKSGIVING AGAINST MSU-MOORHEAD

• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Dragons.
• MSUM, who was No. 18/22 in the preseason polls, opened its season with a 58-56 upset over then-No. 11 Central Missouri at the Central Region Challenge hosted on the Northern State campus.
• Megan Hintz is leading the Dragons in points per game (18.0), rebounds per game (9.0), field goal percentage (66.0%) and blocked shots per game (1.2).
• The Dragons are ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II national statistics with a 42.3 3-point field-goal percentage.
• MSUM is the favorite to win the conference regular season as released by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Poll.   

ALOHA WITH CHAMINADE

• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Silverswords.
• Chaminade is still searching for its first win of the 2019-20 season.
• The Silverswords have already begun play of the Malika Sports O'ahu Thanksgiving Classic, falling to Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, 68-65.
• Prior to their contest against the Cougars, Chaminade will face Sioux Falls at 2 p.m. (4 p.m. PST) on Thursday.
• Kali Benavente is Chaminade's top scorer, averaging 12.0 points per game.
• Chaminade was picked to finish ninth out of 12 teams in the PacWest Preseason Poll.  

 
THE JIMENEZ FILE

• Head coach Renee Jimenez enters her fifth season in charge of the Cougar women's basketball team, a program that is only in its eighth season of existence.
• Jimenez has compiled a 176-129 (.577) in her 12 seasons coaching in the CCAA, spending two seasons at Cal State San Bernardino after a five-year stint at Cal State Monterey Bay.