The FAU Owls (8-7, 1-1 C-USA) lost 70-57 to the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Blue Raiders (10-6, 1-2 C-USA) Thursday night at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. 

This conference game loss moves the Owls’ Conference USA (C-USA) record to 1-1 and their record on the road to 1-4. 

“When you turn the ball over like we did, and give live ball turnovers it’s gonna be a long one,” head coach Dusty May said. “We have to correct that immediately, especially going into Birmingham.”

FAU started the game strong, going on a 6-0 run in the opening three and a half minutes. It remained a tight contest throughout the first 10 minutes until the Blue Raiders went on their own 9-0 run to lead 29-20 with 5:35 to play in the first half. 

The Owls could not find any answers for Middle Tennessee’s full-court press and continued to stall on offense as the Blue Raiders continued to force turnovers and dominate in transition, pushing their lead to 40-24 going into halftime. 

Freshman guard Alijah Martin continued his solid campaign as the Owls’ point leader at halftime with eight. However, junior guard Michael Forrest, who usually plays a big role in the offense with his experience and averages 15.2 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half. 

“Shooters are going to have off nights, we just have to find a way to manufacture some more points and take better care of the basketball,” May said.

FAU’s rough night didn’t get any better in the second half as MTSU continued to dominate with no answer from the Owls’ pushing the deficit to 57-29, the largest lead of the game, with 12:57 in the second half.

The Owls made up some ground late in the second half but not nearly enough to topple the Blue Raiders’ huge lead, leaving the score 70-57 at the end of regulation. FAU finished shooting only 36.4% from the field, 23.8% from beyond the arc, and a whopping 19 turnovers. 

FAU will now prepare for another tough C-USA road matchup against the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Saturday, Jan. 15, in Birmingham, Ala. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

Cameron Priester is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @PriesterCameron.