SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (16-9, 15-5 CCAA) will wrap up its regular season by hosting Cal Poly Humboldt (12-14, 10-10 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. before welcoming Sonoma State (11-15, 10-10 CCAA) for the finale on Saturday at 3 p.m. in The Sports Center.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, CSUSM will honor seniors Jayce McCain, Joel Mensah, Greg Milton III, Zack Perlstein and Lyle Sutton.
 
LAST WEEK

• CSUSM began the weekend by earning a 72-64 victory at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday. The win clinched the Cougars a bye into the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament, locked up one of the top two seeds and guaranteed CSUSM its best-ever finish in the conference standings.
• The Cougars ended the weekend with a 75-70 loss at Cal State East Bay in the team's road finale.
• CSUSM will be the No. 2 seed in the CCAA Tournament following the continuation of the suspended game between Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay on Monday that ended with the Yotes winning the regular-season championship.

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• CSUSM continues to sport the best turnover margin in the CCAA and ranks 11th nationally at 4.6.
• The Cougars lead the CCAA and rank 14th in Division II with the fewest turnovers per game at 10.4.
• With an assist/turnover ratio of 1.35, CSUSM leads the conference and ranks 25th in the nation.
• Shooting 39.1% from 3-point range, the Cougars rank 24th nationally and second in the league.
• The Cougars boast the conference's best scoring defense and rank 29th in Division II at 65.9 points allowed per game.
• CSUSM's 8.2 steals per game lead the CCAA and rank 36th overall.
• The Cougars' 46.7 field-goal percentage ranks second in the conference.
• Shooting 72.3% from the charity stripe, CSUSM is second in the league.
• Outscoring opponents by 4.9 points per game, the Cougars have the second-best scoring margin in the CCAA.
• Jayce McCain's assist/turnover ratio of 2.74 leads the conference and ranks 18th nationally.
• Moving into second all-time at CSUSM with 139 steals, McCain is now eight away from tying Danny Redmon's career record of 147.
• Joel Mensah is the CCAA's fourth-best rebounder at 7.6 per game and ranks third in the conference with a 55.4 field-goal percentage.
• Greg Milton III continues to lead CSUSM in scoring at 17.5 points per game and ranks fourth in the league.
• A win this weekend would give CSUSM its most conference wins since joining the CCAA. The Cougars tied the mark with their 15th last Thursday.

 

GAME 26 | CAL POLY HUMBOLDT
Date	Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023
Time	7:30 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (16-9, 15-5 CCAA) HUM (12-14, 10-10 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

 
THURSDAY AGAINST THE LUMBERJACKS

• Humboldt comes into Thursday on a three-game losing streak after suffering a 90-89 loss to Cal State San Bernardino last Thursday and an 86-78 defeat at the hands of Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
• The Lumberjacks are in a three-way tie for third in the CCAA standings with San Francisco State and Cal Poly Humboldt at 10-10.
• CSUSM won the first game against Humboldt in Arcata on Jan. 14 by score of 68-63.
• The Cougars are 7-6 in the all-time series against the Lumberjacks and are 2-3 at home.
• The Lumberjacks have won each of the last three meetings in San Marcos dating back to Jan. 6, 2018.
• Humboldt leads the CCAA in 3-pointers per game at 8.8.
• Scoring 79.3 points per game, the Lumberjacks have the second-best scoring offense in the conference, but they also have the worst scoring defense at 79.3 points allowed per game.
• Humboldt is committing the most turnovers per game in the league at 15.8 per game.
• Marlon Ruffin is scoring the fifth-most points in the CCAA at 17.2 per game while averaging the third-most steals at 1.88.
• Malek Davis is the 16th-best free throw shooter in Division II at 89.3%.
• Cam Timmons is the top rebounder for Humboldt at 6.8 per game and ranks sixth in the conference.

 

GAME 27 | SONOMA STATE
Date	Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023
Time	3 p.m.
Location	San Marcos, Calif.
Venue	The Sports Center
Records	CSUSM (16-9, 15-5 CCAA) SSU (11-15, 10-10 CCAA)
Live Stats	SideArm Stats
Live Video ($)	CCAA Network
Tickets	HomeTown Ticketing

REGULAR-SEASON FINALE ON SATURDAY

• Sonoma enters the weekend with losses in three of its last four games.
• Last weekend, the Seawolves won a 60-50 game against Cal Poly Pomona before falling 85-81 against Cal State San Bernardino.
• Prior to Saturday's game, SSU will face Cal State LA on Thursday.
• The Seawolves come into the final weekend of the season in a three-way tie for third in the CCAA standings with San Francisco State and Cal Poly Humboldt at 10-10.
• CSUSM has won the past six meetings against Sonoma, including the first meeting of the season on Jan. 12 that saw the Cougars earn a 78-63 victory.
• The Cougars are 9-3 in the all-time series against the Seawolves and are 4-2 when playing at home.
• SSU is the top free throw shooting team in the CCAA at 77% with 14.9 made per game.
• Sonoma has the third-best field-goal percentage in the conference at 45.9 and has the worst 3-point percentage defense at 37.0.
• With a turnover margin of -2.7, the Seawolves rank last in the league while also ranking last in turnovers forced at 11.37.
• Averaging 22.6 points per game, Jaylen Wells leads the conference and ranks ninth nationally in scoring. He ranks second in the conference with 8.3 rebounds per game.

  
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 seventh 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 95-68 (.583).