After a sixth straight conference loss in the 2015-16 campaign, there is still little finger-pointing going around the East Carolina men’s basketball team.

Players are filling their roles as well as they can, but with a harsh lack of scoring depth and a nearly insurmountable weakness in the frontcourt, things have been difficult to overcome.

The struggles under the basket have manifested itself in many different ways. Even after the largely weak nonconference schedule ECU played, it still sits narrowly second to last in conference in rebounds per game. The only team behind is Tulsa, which has relied largely on its outside play.

The Pirates are also allowing the highest field goal percentage in the conference at .434. Houston is second from the bottom and allows opponents to shoot at a  .416 clip. It is not that opponents are finding it easier to shoot over ECU defenders from the outside, but a complete lack of a shot block threat (last in the conference) has allowed opponents to score easily from the inside.

In the Pirates six American Athletic Conference games, Temple was the lone team that did not register 30 points in the paint against ECU, though Temple won 78-60.

This is a clear problem, but it cannot be fixed this year for ECU head coach Jeff Lebo. Before the season even tipped off, Lebo was at a disadvantage in the paint. He was looking forward to the first season of full health for center Marshall Guilmette since his freshman year, but the redshirt junior would not see the floor. Guilmette retired due to a rash of injuries throughout his career.

It was next man up. But the platoon of Michel Nzege, Michael Zangari and Kanu Aja have combined to narrowly out rebound true freshman (and 6-foot-5 small forward) Kentrell Barkley, who averages a team-high 5.9 boards per game.

ECU brought in a promising young center from Australia in its latest recruiting class in Deng Riak. He stands at 6-foot-10 and Lebo raved about the four-star recruit’s high ceiling before the season. However, the big man left the floor clutching his shoulder against USC Upstate, then, 10 days later, ECU announced he would be missed for the season as he underwent surgery.

Despite the problems under the basket, the Pirates still possess one of the highest scoring duos in the conference in Caleb White and B.J. Tyson. Only Tulsa’s James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison and Houston’s Rob Gray Jr. and Devonta Pollard combine for a higher scoring average across the AAC.

The issue, as in many categories, comes in depth. True freshman Kentrell Barkley is third on the team with 9.2 points per game, the next scorer drops to Prince Williams (7.2), who has seen inconsistencies in his senior season, and no other Pirate averages more than five per game.

Along with not expecting the loss of Guilmette before the season, last April, ECU’s second highest scorer announced that he would forgo his senior year to turn pro. Terry Whisnant provided a true shooter threat for ECU the year after losing marksman Akeem Richmond and just like that, Lebo had to recover from losing his second and fourth leading scorer in unexpected fashion.

Now, ECU is 0-6 in conference and the path ahead is rocky. Memphis, Temple, Houston and Connecticut follow. An 0-10 start in the AAC is a very real possibility, but the Pirates still have four very winnable games left on the schedule with Tulane and South Florida. Add a steal win against Memphis, Cincinnati or any of the games ahead and ECU is in the same spot as last year’s five-conference-win team.

The Pirates will lose Williams, Zangari and Aja after this season, though after a difficult campaign it is never clear who may jump ship. However, Lebo has done well to keep his talent at ECU the past couple seasons.

Ultimately, ECU is going through a difficult season. An experience that will make returning players, like White, Tyson, Barkley, Lance Tejada, Clarence Williams and Nzege stronger.