SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Beginning its second four-game road trip of the season, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (6-5, 5-1 CCAA) will head to No. 12/7 Cal State San Bernardino (8-1, 3-0 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in The Den before traveling to Cal Poly Pomona (6-3, 3-2 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Kellogg Arena.

LAST WEEK

• The Cougars secured their fourth consecutive win on Sunday by defeating Cal State LA 74-66.
• Joel Mensah claimed his second double-double performance with a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points. He also made a career-high seven free throws.
• Shooting 56.3% from the field, the Cougars had their second-best performance of the season.
• CSUSM moved into second place all by itself in the CCAA standings with a loss by Cal Poly Humboldt.
• Before the winter break, CSUSM ended 2022 with an 86-75 victory against Seattle Pacific in its final non-conference game.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM has the ninth-best 3-point field-goal percentage in the nation at 42.1 and leads the CCAA.
• Committing just 10.5 turnovers per game, the Cougars rank 10th in the nation and lead the conference.
• CSUSM is sporting an assist/turnover ratio of 1.37 to rank 24th in Division II and first in the CCAA.
• With a turnover margin of 4.1, CSUSM ranks 25th in the country and first in the league.
• Shooting 49.2% from the field, the Cougars have the 29th-best field-goal percentage and rank second in the conference.
• The Cougars are committing the second-fewest fouls in the CCAA at 16.5 per game.
• Allowing just 68.7 points per game, CSUSM has the second-best scoring defense in the CCAA.
• CSUSM is outscoring opponents by 2.3 points per game, ranking second in the conference.
• Jayce McCain leads the CCAA and ranks 17th nationally with 3.08 assist/turnover ratio.
• Spending over 34 minutes per game on the floor, Greg Milton III leads the conference while his 18.8 points per game rank fourth.
• Joel Mensah's 60.0 field-goal percentage ranks second in the CCAA while his 7.9 rebounds per game are third in the league.
• McCain became the program record holder for games played with his 64th against Cal State LA this past Sunday.

 

GAME 12 | NO. 12/7 CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO
Date	Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	San Bernardino, Calif.
Venue	The Den
Records	CSUSM (6-5, 5-1 CCAA) CSUSB (8-1, 3-0 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

THURSDAY IN SAN BERNARDINO

• The Cougars and Coyotes will clash for the first time since last season's CCAA Championship game that saw CSUSM come out with an 85-71 victory to win the tournament title for the very first time.
• This will be CSUSM's first game against a ranked team since facing CSUSB last season.
• The Coyotes are currently first in the CCAA standings at 3-0 while tallying an overall record of 8-1.
• This past Sunday, CSUSB pummeled Cal Poly Pomona 102-67 at home.
• The Coyotes' lone loss of the season came against No. 8 Central Oklahoma on Nov. 26 in Honolulu.
• With a rebounding margin of 14.6 and averaging 44.78 rebounds per game, CSUSB leads the nation in both categories.
• Beating their opponents by 20 points per game, the Coyotes have the nation's ninth-best scoring margin.
• CSUSB has the 10th-best field-goal percentage defense in the nation at 38.1.
• Shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc, the Coyotes rank 12th nationally.
• Scoring 86.6 points per game, CSUSB ranks 18th nationally and leads the CCAA for scoring offense. The Coyotes also have the best scoring defense in the conference at 66.6 points allowed per game.
• Brandon Knapper leads the Coyotes and ranks third in the CCAA at 20.1 points per game.
• Darius Mickens is the second-best rebounder in the conference at 8.1 per game.
• Shooting 46.9% from downtown, Dontrell Shuler has the top 3-point field-goal percentage in the CCAA.
• CSUSM will be looking for its first-ever victory at CSUSB in its fifth attempt.
• The Cougars trail the Coyotes 3-6 in the all-time series.

 

GAME 13 | CAL POLY POMONA
Date	Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023
Time	3 p.m.
Location	Pomona, Calif.
Venue	Kellogg Arena
Records	CSUSM (6-5, 5-1 CCAA) CPP (6-3, 3-2 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network

 

SATURDAY IN POMONA

• CSUSM and CPP will meet for the first time since last season's quarterfinal round of the CCAA Tournament in which the Cougars won 76-65 in Arcata.
• The Cougars won last season's meeting in Pomona with a 62-52 overtime victory.
• CSUSM is 5-6 in the all-time series against CPP but is 3-3 when playing in Pomona.
• The Broncos sit fifth in the CCAA standings with a 3-2 conference record.
• CPP has lost its last two games, falling 102-67 against Cal State San Bernardino this past Sunday and 68-58 against Cal State East Bay on Dec. 18.
• The Broncos' best national ranking comes in the form of steals per game as they sit 12th at 10.1.
• Forcing 18.44 turnovers per game, CPP ranks 13th nationally and leads the CCAA.
• The Broncos have the fourth-best scoring offense in the conference at 72.2 points per game and fifth for scoring defense at 71.6 per game.
• CPP has the second-best field-goal percentage defense in the CCAA at 42.3%.
• The Broncos have the second-worst 3-point field-goal percentage in the league at 28.8%.
• CPP ranks last in the CCAA for assist/turnover ratio (0.73), assists per game (11.0), fouls per game (22.4) and free-throw percentage (58.4%).
• Christopher Mitchell is CPP's leading scorer at 14.4 points per game and ranks eighth in the CCAA by shooting 50%.

A NEW CAMPAIGN

• 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 85-64 (.570).