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CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGARS
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Tyrone Nesby IV
Greg Siller

Men's Basketball

No. 19/19 Cougars to Conclude Regular Season at Sonoma, Humboldt

SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The No. 19/19 Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (15-4, 11-4 CCAA) will conclude the 2021-22 regular season this week by visiting Sonoma State (3-23, 3-17 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before ending at Cal Poly Humboldt (10-13, 4-14 CCAA) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

  • CSUSM went 1-1 last week with a 66-52 victory over Stanislaus State on Thursday before falling 63-57 in a rematch against then-No. 11/10 Chico State on Saturday.
  • Seniors Sean Dunn, Alex Gil-Fernandez, Blake Seits and Lyle Sutton were honored prior to the Cougars’ last home game of the year.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

  • CSUSM came in at No. 19 in this week’s NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll and D2SIDA Top 25 National Media Poll.
  • The Cougars fell one spot to No. 3 in this week's NCAA West Region rankings.
  • The Cougars have already clinched a spot in the CCAA Tournament set to take place at Humboldt's Lumberjack Arena in Arcata on March 3-5. This will be CSUSM's first appearance in the postseason since the 2017-18 season, and it will its second time competing in the CCAA Tournament since moving to NCAA Division II in 2015-16.
  • CSUSM has the second-best 3-point field-goal defense in the nation at 27.7%.
  • The Cougars have tallied the third-fewest turnovers this season with 204 in the nation.
  • CSUSM has posted the fourth-best free-throw percentage of any team in Division II this season at 79.9%.
  • With a turnover margin of 6.4, the Cougars rank fourth nationally.
  • Recording 9.7 steals per game, CSUSM ranks ninth in the country.
  • The Cougars sport the 10th-best scoring defense in Division II at 63.7 points allowed per game.
  • CSUSM is forcing the 12th-most turnovers per game in the nation at 17.11.
  • On average, the Cougars are outscoring opponents by 11.8 points per game – the 23rd-widest margin in Division II.
  • CSUSM is committing the fewest turnovers per game in the CCAA at 10.7 per game.
  • The Cougars’ assist-turnover ratio of 1.15 leads the conference.
  • Jayce McCain and Blake Seits have two of the best free-throw percentage in Division II. McCain’s 89.7% ranks 12th nationally and first in the CCAA while Seits’ 87.9% ranks 24th and ranks second in the conference.
  • With a 3-point field-goal percentage of 39.1%, Seits has the third-best mark in the league.
  • As the Cougars leading scorer, Seits’ 15.6 points per game rank fourth in the CCAA.
  • McCain’s assist-turnover ratio of 2.1 ranks third in the conference while his 1.68 steals per game rank fourth.
GAME 20 | SONOMA STATE
DateThursday, Feb. 24, 2022
Time7:30 p.m.
LocationRohnert Park, Calif.
VenueThe Wolves' Den
RecordsCSUSM (15-4, 11-4 CCAA)
SSU (3-23, 3-17 CCAA)
Live StatsSidearm Stats
Live Video ($)CCAA Network
COVID-19 Policy2021-22 CCAA Universities Spectator Policies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY AT SONOMA

  • CSUSM will play its next-to-last game of the regular season at Sonoma State on Thursday night at The Wolves’ Den.
  • The Cougars handily won the first meeting against the Seawolves at The Sports Center on Jan. 8 by a score of 88-55 behind Tyrone Nesby’s 27 points.
  • CSUSM is 7-3 in the all-time series against SSU and are 3-1 when playing in Rohnert Park.
  • The Cougars have won the past four meetings against the Seawolves and six of the last seven games.
  • CSUSM has won the past three meetings against SSU at The Wolves’ Den with the lone loss occurring on Feb. 13, 2016.
  • Sonoma has lost its last 11 games and have just three wins overall this season – all in CCAA play.
  • SSU fell 100-67 at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday before taking a 77-63 loss at Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
  • Jaylen Wells is the Seawolves’ leading scorer at 12.0 points per game while Nick Klarman is the only other SSU player averaging double figures at 10.5.
  • Wells is also the team’s leading rebounder with 6.0 per game.

REGULAR-SEASON FINALE AT HUMBOLDT

  • Saturday’s regular-season finale between the Cougars and Lumberjacks will be the lone contest between the two this season as the scheduled game on Jan. 6 at The Sports Center was canceled due to COVID health and safety measures.
  • CSUSM and Humboldt are knotted at 5-5 in the all-time series with the Cougars holding a 3-2 lead when playing in Arcata.
  • The Cougars have won the past three games against the Lumberjacks in Arcata.
  • The ‘Jacks are on an eight-game losing streak dating back to Jan. 29.
  • This past week, Humboldt fell 87-49 to Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday before taking an 81-71 loss at Cal State.
  • Jaden Edwards is Humboldt’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game and leading rebounder at 9.4 per game.
  • The Lumberjacks are the best offensive rebounding team in the CCAA and rank 19th nationally at 13.04 per game.
GAME 21 | HUMBOLDT STATE
DateSaturday, Feb. 26, 2022
Times7:30 p.m. 
LocationArcata, Calif.
VenueLumberjack Arena
RecordsCSUSM (15-4, 11-4 CCAA)
Humboldt (10-13, 4-14 CCAA)
Live StatsSidearm Stats
Live Video ($)CCAA Network
COVID-19 Policy2021-22 CCAA Universities Spectator Policies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greg Milton III

COUGAR OUTLOOK

  • After sitting out the 2020-21 season, CSUSM returns five student-athletes from the 2019-20 season in Jayce McCain, Blake Seits, Alex Gil-Fernandez, Chase Bowsher and Sean Dunn.
  • Nine Cougars will be hitting the court in Cougar blue for the first time, including Division-I transfers Lyle Sutton (Idaho State), Tyrone Nesby IV (Wagner), Joel Mensah (James Madison and San Diego State) and Greg Milton III (Wyoming).
  • Joining the team in 2020-21, redshirt freshmen Ethan Barnella, Jack Schultz and Garrett Hall will finally get the opportunity to suit up for CSUSM this season while true freshmen Max Lonneker and Donovan Watkins joined the roster this season.
  • CSUSM was picked to finished seventh in the 2021-22 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

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 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 74-58 (.561).