SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Taking a break from CCAA play, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (3-5, 2-2 CCAA) will head to The Evergreen State to conclude its non-conference schedule at Central Washington (6-3, 1-1 GNAC) on Sunday, Dec. 17 and Seattle Pacific (6-7, 1-1 GNAC) on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM went 2-0 at home this past week against Cal Poly Humboldt and then-No. 10 Chico State.
• The Cougars began the week by overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit to the Lumberjacks last Thursday and earned a 62-57 win behind Charlie Henderson's 15 points.
• On Saturday, CSUSM upset then-No. 10 Chico State with a 61-53 victory while Camren Pierce scored a game-high 22 points as the Cougars only had five players score in the game.
• The Cougars earned their eighth victory over a top-25 team in the NCAA Division II era (2015-present) ­– three of which have come against the Wildcats in less than two years.

 
COUGAR FACTS

• CSUSM has the 15th-best field-goal percentage defense in Division II at 39.2% and ranks second in the CCAA.
• The Cougars have the second-best free throw percentage in the conference at 76.4%.
• CSUSM is averaging the second-most 3-point attempts per game in the CCAA at 26.9 while making the third most in the conference at 8.1.
• Dishing out 13.2 assists per game, CSUSM ranks third in the CCAA.
• The Cougars have the third-best scoring defense in the conference at 66.2 points allowed per game.
• Forcing 15.88 turnovers per game, CSUSM ranks third in the league.
• Camren Pierce has the top free throw percentage in the CCAA and ranks 22nd nationally at 91.2%.
• Pierce is averaging the third-most assists per game in the conference at 4.0 while his assist/turnover ratio of 1.12 ranks fourth.
• With a team-leading 13.1 points per game, Charlie Henderson has the third-best field-goal percentage in the CCAA at 55%.
• Per game, Henderson ranks second in blocks (1.25), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.62) and seventh in total rebounds (7.2).
• Edwyn Collins ranks third in the CCAA with 2.0 steals per game.

 

GAME 9 | CENTRAL WASHINGTON
Date	Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023
Time	4 p.m.
Location	Ellensburg, Wash.
Venue	Nicholson Arena
Records	CSUSM (3-5, 2-2 CCAA) CWU (6-3, 1-1 GNAC)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	YouTube

SUNDAY AT CWU

• The Cougars and Wildcats will meet for just the second time on Sunday after their inaugural meeting last season in San Marcos.
• CWU played just one game last week as they earned a 102-54 victory against Walla Walla University.
• The Wildcats have the fifth-best free throw percentage in Division II at 80.7%
• Locking down opponents outside of the arc, CWU's 3-point field-goal percentage defense of 26.6% ranks eighth nationally.
• The Wildcats have the 20th-best scoring defense in Division II and second best in the GNAC at 65.4 points allowed per game while their scoring offense of 77.3 points per game ranks third in the GNAC.
• CWU has the second-best field-goal percentage in the GNAC at 48.3%.
• Samaad Hector has the GNAC's top field-goal percentage at 60% and ranks third in rebounds per game at 7.8 while scoring a team-leading 13.8 points per game.
• The Wildcats earned a 69-60 victory over the Cougars last season at The Sports Center.
• CWU is 2-2 against common CSUSM opponents this season with wins coming against Cal State Monterey Bay (84-67) and Cal State LA (82-69) and losses coming against Cal State San Bernardino (73-48) and Point Loma (79-75).
• The Wildcats were picked to finish third in the 2023-24 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

 

GAME 10 | SEATTLE PACIFIC
Date	Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
Time	3 p.m.
Location	Seattle, Wash.
Venue	Royal Brougham Pavilion
Records	CSUSM (3-5, 2-2 CCAA) SPU (6-7, 1-1 GNAC)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video	YouTube

TUESDAY IN SEATTLE

• Before facing the Cougars on Tuesday to round out non-conference play, the Falcons will host NCAA Division III Linfield on Saturday afternoon.
• SPU is coming off back-to-back wins against then-No. 23 Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 2 and Douglas College on Dec. 8.
• Like CWU, the Falcons are 2-2 this season against common CSUSM opponents. SPU has victories over Cal Poly Pomona (56-50) and Sonoma State (82-78) while its losses came against then-No. 22 Chico State (70-56) and Concordia (84-78).
• The Falcons are averaging 9.8 made 3-pointers per game to rank second in the GNAC.
• SPU's scoring offense of 74.0 and scoring defense of 72.8 points per game both rank seventh in the conference.
• The Falcons are shooting 48.3% from the field and rank third in the GNAC.
• Leading SPU in scoring is Shaw Anderson at 19.8 points per game, ranking second in the GNAC. He has the second-most total points nationally at 258.
• The Falcons' leading rebounder Jadin Penigar ranks ninth in the GNAC with 6.2 per game.
• CSUSM won the inaugural meeting against SPU last season in The Sports Center, earning an 86-75 victory.
• SPU tied for fifth in the 2023-24 GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

2023-24 OUTLOOK

• First-year head coach Nick Booker takes over the reins of the CSUSM men's basketball program after spending three seasons as an assistant at UC San Diego.
• The Cougars return six from last season's roster, including Edwyn Collins, Chris Howard, Bing Huang, Jermaine Rogers II, Jack Schultz and Donovan Watkins.
• CSUSM has nine newcomers for 2023-24, including transfers Uriah Foster, Charlie Henderson, Teagen Hoard, Luc Krystkowiak, Camren Pierce, Mike Pope, Jayden White and Justin White while welcoming true freshman Max Tengan.
• The Cougars' 30-game slate includes two road exhibitions to go along with 13 home games and 15 road games in the regular season.
• CSUSM was selected to finish seventh in the 2023-24 CCAA Preseason Coaches Poll.

THE BOOKER FILE

• Nick Booker became the Cougars' third head coach in program history on June 5, 2023.
• Booker came to CSUSM from UC San Diego where was the Tritons' assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons beginning in June 2020.
• Prior to UCSD, Booker was the associate head coach at Eastern Washington from April 2017 through May 2020 and was named the top assistant coach in the Big Sky Conference by Stadium.
• While at Eastern Washington, Booker helped the Eagles win 59 games overall and a Big Sky Conference Championship in 2019-20 while helping develop two Big Sky Players of the Year.
• Before Eastern Washington, Booker was the director of basketball operations at Davidson College in 2016-17 after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at UC Irvine from April 2011 to March 2016, where he was also the director of basketball operations for one season prior.
• Booker's first coaching gig as an assistant came at Miramar Community College in 2006-07, and he later became the assistant coach and interim head coach at Saddleback Community College from July 2007 through August 2010.
• Booker earned his bachelor's in history at Davidson College in 2004and earned his master's in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2010.
• At Davidson, Booker was a starter for the 2002 Southern Conference Championship team that faced Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament and contributed to back-to-back regular-season conference championships in 2001 and 2002.