Florida Atlantic men’s basketball could not get going offensively Friday night in its season opener, resulting in a 61-57 loss to Texas State in its first game of the Hawaii Rainbow Classic.

No players from FAU (0-1) scored in double digits. Senior guard Adonis Filer led the way with nine points, going 2-for-6 from the field with five made foul shots.

FAU shot just 33 percent from the field for the game, but the team able to keep it close until the end with strong defensive play.

“A lot of things we did were self inflicted,” head coach Michael Curry told ESPN 106.3 following the game. “But when you get in the paint and shoot just 6-for-26, you won’t win too many games. You have to make more than half of those to win games.”

FAU forced 18 Texas State (1-0) turnovers despite allowing the Bobcats to shoot 46.8 percent from the field, including going 6-for-13 from beyond the three-point arc.

A stronger first half had FAU up 26-24 at halftime, but Texas State began the second half with a 9-4 run to take the lead and never looked back.

The Bobcats led by as many as 11 in the second half, but the Owls used a 7-0 run to trim the deficit down to 58-54 with 1:30 remaining.

However, FAU scored just three points in the final 90 seconds, committed two turnovers and shot 1-for-7 during the span.

“We battled,” said Curry. “If we don’t turn the ball over 16 times and shoot the ball better, we’ll be feeling pretty good about our chances.”

Bobcats forward Kavin Gilder-Tilbury led all scorers with 19 points, making 6-of-11 from the field.

The Owls will play Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hans Belot Jr. is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @Don_Phenom_.