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CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGARS
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2021-22 CCAA Tournament Champions

Men's Basketball

Top-Seeded Cougars Set for First NCAA West Regional Appearance

SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 9/6 and top-seeded Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (20-4) will face eighth-seeded Alaska (12-14) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA West Regional on Friday at 5 p.m. in Coussoulis Arena at Cal State San Bernardino.

2021-22 CCAA Tournament Champions

CCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

  • As the No. 3 seed at the CCAA Tournament, CSUSM won all three of its games to win its first CCAA Tournament Championship.
  • The Cougars eliminated Cal Poly Pomona in the quarterfinals by a score of 76-65 behind Blake Seits’ 21 points to earn their first-ever CCAA Tournament win.
  • CSUSM defeated No. 11/10 and second-seeded Chico State, 80-66, in the semifinals as both Seits and Alex Gil-Fernandez each tallied 18 points.
  • The Cougars then earned their first CCAA Tournament Championship with an 85-71 victory over No. 6/5 and top-seeded Cal State San Bernardino in the title game.
  • Seits was named CCAA Tournament MVP while Gil-Fernandez and Jayce McCain were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
  • Also happening last week, Seits and McCain earned All-CCAA first-team honors while Gil-Fernandez and Greg Milton III were named to the second team.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

  • In this week’s national polls, CSUSM returned to the top 10 as it came in at No. 9 in the NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the NABC Top 25 National Media Poll.
  • The Cougars continue to have the best 3-point field-goal defense in the nation at 27.6%.
  • With 258 turnovers this season, CSUSM has tallied the third fewest in the nation.
  • The Cougars’ team free-throw percentage of 79.9% ranks sixth nationally.
  • Recording 5.8 few turnovers than its opponents, CSUSM has the sixth-best turnover margin in Division II.
  • The Cougars are allowing opponents to score just 63.2 points per game this season, giving them the 10th-best scoring defense in the nation.
  • CSUSM is tallying 9.2 steals per game – the 11th-best average in Division II.
  • The Cougars have the 15th-best scoring margin in the nation at 13.2 points per game.
  • CSUSM is forcing 16.54 turnovers per game – the 17th-best average in the country.
  • Committing just 10.8 turnovers per game, the Cougars rank 31st nationally and first in the CCAA.
  • The Cougars have the best assist-turnover ratio in the CCAA at 1.23.
  • Shooting 45.4% from the field, CSUSM ranks third in the conference.
  • McCain has the top assist-turnover in the league at 2.85 while ranking 14th nationally.
  • Shooting a conference-best 88.7% from the charity stripe, McCain ranks 20th nationally for free-throw percentage. Seits is second in the CCAA and 23rd nationally at 88.2%.
  • Seits is shooting 42% from the perimeter this season ­– second in the CCAA and 28th nationally.
  • Seits is also the team leader in scoring and ranks second in the CCAA at 17.0 points per game.
  • CSUSM has four wins over nationally ranked teams this season: No. 24/9 Point Loma on Nov. 20 (90-52), No. 4/5 Chico State on Jan. 13 (87-85), No. 11/10 Chico State on March 4 (80-66) and No. 6/5 Cal State San Bernardino on March 5 (85-71).
  • On a five-game winning streak, the Cougars have won each of those games by 11-plus points.
  • The Cougars have recorded more steals than their opponents in all but one game this season ­– a 6-6 tie against Cal State East Bay on Dec. 4.
GAME 25 | NO. 8-SEED ALASKA
DateFriday, March 11, 2022
Time5 p.m.
LocationSan Bernardino, Calif.
VenueCoussoulis Arena
RecordsCSUSM (20-4)
ALASKA (12-14)
Live StatsSidearm Stats
Live VideoCCAA Network
TicketsHometown Ticketing
COVID-19 Policy2021-22 CCAA Universities Spectator Policies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCAA WEST REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL AGAINST ALASKA

  • Alaska won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) as the No. 10 seed with four consecutive wins at the GNAC Championships in Lacey, Washington.
  • The 10th-seeded Nanooks defeated seventh-seeded Simon Fraser with a 91-83 win in overtime in the first-round play-in game before defeating second-seeded Northwest Nazarene, 83-62, in the quarterfinals.
  • Alaska then defeated third-seeded Alaska Anchorage in the semifinals with a 63-58 victory before earning a 72-57 victory over fifth-seeded Central Washington in the championship game.
  • Alaska won all four games with just seven available players.
  • The Nanooks are the lone representatives of the GNAC in this year’s eight-team regional field – their first time qualifying since 2005.
  • GNAC Championship MVP Shadeed Shabazz leads Alaska in scoring and ranks 23rd nationally at 20.6 points per game and leads all scorers participating at this year’s regional.
  • Shabazz also ranks second in Division II at 3.17 steals per game.
  • Making 3.25 3-point field goals per game, Quin Barnard has the best 3-point field-goal percentage in the nation at 44.5%.
  • The Nanooks are making 76.6% of all free throws this season ­– the 29th-best percentage in Division II.
  • Alaska has the 39th-highest 3-point field-goal percentage in the nation at 37.6%.
  • The Cougars and Nanooks have faced each other just one time. CSUSM earned an 88-75 victory over Alaska on Nov. 16, 2019, in Seaside at Cal State Monterey Bay’s Otter Invitational.
  • Gil-Fernandez ended that game tied as the Cougars’ leading scorer with 17 points to go along with six rebounds while Shabazz was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points.
  • A win would give CSUSM its 21st of the season ­– the most by the program in the Division II era.

POTENTIAL REGIONAL SEMIFINAL OPPONENTS

  • Should the Cougars earn their first-ever NCAA Tournament win on Friday, CSUSM would advance to play fourth-seeded Point Loma or fifth-seeded Azusa Pacific in the semifinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
  • The Sea Lions came up short in the semifinals of the PacWest Tournament with a 78-75 loss to eventual tournament champion Academy of Art.
  • Prior to its loss in the semifinals, PLNU had won 12 consecutive games.
  • CSUSM pummeled then-No. 24/9 PLNU at The Sports Center on Nov. 20 with a 90-52 win – its first victory in three games against the Sea Lions.
  • The 38-point margin of victory against the Sea Lions was the Cougars’ largest ever against an NCAA Division II institution.
  • This is PLNU’s fifth consecutive selection to the NCAA Tournament. The Sea Lions fell just shy of winning the 2018-19 National Championship as they fell 64-58 to Northwest Missouri State in the title game.
  • Kaden Anderson is PLNU’s leading scorer at 20.6 points per game.
  • APU was defeated 73-70 in the title game of the PacWest Tournament by Academy of Art.
  • Prior to its defeat in the championship game, the APU had won six of its last seven games.
  • CSUSM and APU last met in 2019-20 with APU winning 67-66 in Azusa
  • APU owns a 6-2 lead in the all-time series against CSUSM.
  • APU was last selected for the NCAA Tournament in 2019-20, but it was not able to compete due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Ken West and Justin Hemsley each lead APU with 13.7 and 13.1 points per game, respectively.
GAME 26 | NO. 4-SEED PLNU OR NO. 5-SEED APU
DateSaturday, March 12, 2022
Times7:30 p.m. 
LocationSan Bernardino, Calif.
VenueCoussoulis Arena
RecordsCSUSM (20-4)
PLNU (21-9) or APU (20-9)
Live StatsSidearm Stats
Live VideoCCAA Network
TicketsHometown Ticketing
COVID-19 Policy2021-22 CCAA Universities Spectator Policies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BJ Foster

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 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 79-58 (.577).