East Carolina basketball was hoping the New Year would bring a spark to its offense, but a late run only narrowly pushed the Pirates over the 40-point threshold in a 48-45 loss to Central Florida Tuesday night.

ECU shot a mere 26 percent from the field and scored just 15 points in the first half. The Pirates’ big three of Caleb White, B.J. Tyson and Kentrell Barkley shot 12-of-42 from the field. White, in limited minutes after running into 7-foot-6 UCF center Tacko Fall, shot 1-of-7 for the game.

Perhaps as frustrating as the offense for ECU is the lack of finish at the free throw line. Tyson and Barkley have thrived on driving, drawing fouls and racking up points from the free-throw line, but the pair had just two attempts combined against the Knights. As a team, ECU was 6-of-16 from the line. Freshman Elijah Hughes made just 2-of-8. In the Pirates’ 75-44 loss to Southern Methodist on New Year’s Eve, they were 5-of-15 from the line and shot 35 percent from the field.

The Pirates are now 1-2 in American Athletic Conference play after opening up with the victory over South Florida, which has since fired its head coach. A loss to a powerful SMU team, despite sanctions, was to be expected, but the Pirates lost a winnable game against Central Florida because of another poor offensive showing.

The ECU defense has been strong all year long. Tuesday was another good output. The Knights shot 26.1 percent from the field and 17 percent from behind the 3-point arc. ECU did what it had to against one of the premier bigs in the conference in Fall. The tallest player in Division I was 0-for-6 from the field and pulled down 7 rebounds. Had the Pirates not contained the big man, they would not have had a chance late in the game.

With just over three minutes left, the Pirates were sitting on 27 total points before ripping off a monster run to finish the game. The 22-9 run put ECU in a position to strike late in the game, but the lack of offensive output for the first 37 minutes of the game made it too much to overcome.

There’s no question of the fight or defensive proficiency for this ECU team, but as long as the Pirates are hanging sub-30 percent shooting from the field, it will be next to impossible to beat teams in the American.

The Pirates have a gauntlet to run through in their next four games. They face Temple, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. Don’t be surprised to see the Pirates’ have a chance to rebound down this stretch despite the big names. Temple has struggled early in conference play and UConn is playing without its starting backcourt and top transfer player. Cincinnati, on the other hand, has posted 90 points or more in four of its last five games.

For ECU, getting its young players in a good shooting flow will be critical. From Jeremy Sheppard to Hughes and Barkley, the Pirates’ shooting must improve to keep its head above water in the American in the coming weeks.