SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 13/NR Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (0-2) will play its home opener against Central Washington (0-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in The Sports Center.

COUGAR MADNESS WEEK

• Join the men's team for U-Hour (12-1 p.m.) at Forum Plaza on Thursday (Nov. 17) for games and prizes. 
• Prior to Thursday's home opener, the Cougars will unveil their 2022 CCAA Tournament Championship banner in The Sports Center. 
• The first 100 students will receive free pizza (while supplies last). 

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars opened up the season at RV/NR Saint Martin's by taking an 84-72 loss last Friday.
• CSUSM was led by Greg Milton III's 39 points – the second most in program history.
• Milton also set a CSUSM single-game record with 16 field goals – beating out Ethan Alvaro's 15 in 2017.
• The Cougars then took a 68-64 loss to Montana State Billings on Saturday morning to close the opening weekend of games in Lacey, Washington.
• Milton led the Cougars once again with 18 points.
• Zack Perlstein tied his career high for assists with four against Montana State Billings.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• After the opening weekend of games, Milton's 28.5 points per game rank sixth nationally and first in the CCAA.
• Jayce McCain moved up to third on CSUSM's all-time list for assists as he ended the weekend with 200.
• McCain's 5.5 assists per game rank third in the CCAA.
• Joel Mensah registered 1.5 blocks per game to rank second in the CCAA while coming down with the third-most offensive rebounds per game at 3.00.
• CSUSM has the second-best field-goal percentage in the conference at 47%.
• The Cougars currently have the third-best free-throw percentage in the CCAA at 78.6.
• CSUSM posted a 1.13 assist-turnover ratio in its first two games to rank third in the league.
• Defensively, the Cougars held their opponents to 31.8% from beyond the arc – the third-lowest percentage in the CCAA.

 

GAME 3 | CENTRAL WASHINGTON
Date	Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022
Time	7 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (0-2) CWU (0-2)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

HOME OPENER AGAINST CENTRAL WASHINGTON

• CSUSM and CWU will meet for the very first time on Thursday night.
• CSUSM has won every home opener since 2013-14.
• Like the Cougars, the Wildcats opened the season with a pair of losses, falling 77-57 to Cal State Monterey Bay and 64-61 to No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino last Friday and Saturday in Monmouth, Oregon.
• Cameron McNeil leads the Wildcats in scoring with 9.5 per game off the bench and is 4-of-6 (66.7%) from beyond the arc.
• Matt Poquette is CWU's top rebounder at 9.5 per game in the early going, ranking 50th nationally. His 8.0 defensive rebounds per game rank 20th in Division II.
• The Wildcats' 4.5 blocks per game rank 35th nationally.
• Poquette was CWU's lone representative on the 2022-23 GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team.
• CWU was picked to finish seventh out of 10 teams in the 2022-23 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

   
 

A NEW CAMPAIGN

• CSUSM will begin the new season ranked No. 13 in the NABC Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll.
• The Cougars were voted to finish second in the 2022-23 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Nine Cougars return from the 2021-22 team, including All-CCAA first-teamer Jayce McCain and second-teamer Greg Milton III.
• CSUSM is joined this year by five transfers, including sophomore Quinn Denker (West Valley College), redshirt junior Edwyn Collins (Riverside City College), graduate Zack Perlstein (Cal State East Bay), redshirt junior Bing Huang (Johnson County CC) and redshirt junior Chris Howard (Palomar College).
• Rounding out the Cougars' roster of 15 is lone freshman Jermaine Rogers II (Ruben S. Ayala HS).

THE FOSTER FILE

• Head coach B.J. Foster enters his sixth season in charge of the CSUSM Men's Basketball program after taking over the head position in 2016.
• Under his leadership, the Cougars earned their first CCAA Tournament Championship in 2022 and made their first NCAA West Regional appearance.
• 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 79-61 (.564).