An 81-53 loss at Florida Atlantic to close the regular season on Sunday was an aberration for East Carolina (18-13) in its first winning season since 2012-13.

Coach Mike Schwartz has sought to figure out what happened as the Pirates open play in the American Athletic Conference Tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Thursday at 9 p.m. (ESPNU) against Texas San Antonio (12-18).

FAU shot relatively well, 44.4 percent on its field goal attempts while the Pirates were at 29.3 percent. Schwartz said ECU struggled from close range.

“We shot 30 percent at the rim in the game,” said the third-year ECU coach. “You could feel it in the first. It was our lowest paint/rim execution that we have had all year in terms of finishing.

“We were really pleased with our ball movement and our passing, getting to the paint, getting the right shots off ball cuts, things like that.

“We just couldn’t finish. And I felt like, reviewing the tape, looking back, we did not have very good physicality. Their skill and their physicality and length, and that combination — that’s what turned into, obviously, not a very good performance for us.”

Coupled with a 78-76 loss in Greenville on Jan. 5, FAU was the only AAC team to have beaten the Pirates twice this season.

Turning point

Schwartz cited an early turning point in the Sunday matchup in Boca Raton.

“It’s a 9-9 game,” Schwartz recalled. ” … It’s a very close game here. And then we took a quick shot. They hit a three and it almost felt like a snowball effect. The made threes that they were executing.”

The Owls expanded an 18-14 lead with a 15-0 run. The hosts made eight of 16 (50 percent) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

Practice volume diminishes

Schwartz said at this point in the season, many of the same things are focused on in practices but for shorter durations.

“It’s really more about volume more than anything,” Schwartz said. “There is nothing other than preparation for game one. Timewise, you look at, we got a game Thursday. We got to travel (Tuesday).

“We’re going out there a little bit early. … This has been my experience as being a coach, and I would say most coaches probably lead into doing this into conference a tournament: a little bit volume is down. What you do stays the same, how you do it stays the same, but volume goes down.

“We played Sunday. (Monday) was preparation. Body, physical rejuvenation day. (Tuesday) we get in film, we get our workout in, the guys get a lift in, and we hit the court. But if normally we’re sitting here at 90 minutes or an hour 45, we’ll shrink that down as we travel.

“Then we’re on the court (Wednesday). We’ll do what we do. But it’ll be shrunk down (Wednesday) in Fort Worth.”

UTSA, I, II … and III

This will be the third contest with the Roadrunners for ECU.

The Pirates won, 80-79, in San Antonio on Feb. 8 on a late jumper by C. J. Walker (28 points) and ECU prevailed, 96-89, in overtime in Greenville on Feb. 23 as R.J. Felton scored 30.

“I said it before game one,” said the former Tennessee assistant, “I said it before game two, I said it after game one, I said it after game two. We’ve been fortunate enough to win those games but have so much respect for Coach (Austin) Claunch, their players, their program, how they play.

“They’re dynamic in transition. They have dynamic guard play. They get downhill, shoot the ball as well as anyone in the conference. They lead the conference in 3- point shots made and taken.

“There’s so many things that pose a challenge for us. What we have to do is try to play to our identity. Our identity isn’t going to match their identity. We didn’t play to our strengths on Sunday versus FAU. They played to their strengths.

“We may have played best to our strengths and still lost the game, but we didn’t even give ourselves a chance because we don’t feel like, looking back at the tape, that we played to our strengths. Regardless of anything and how good UTSA is, we have to try to play to our identity Thursday evening.”

Riley’s experience

Temple transfer Jordan Riley was part of a run to the AAC Tournament championship last season. The Owls topped UTSA, 64-61, in the first round as Riley scored 12 points.

The Owls proceeded to knock off Southern Methodist, 75-60, and Charlotte, 58-54.

Riley had 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 74-73 semifinal win over FAU.

Temple was stopped in the AAC championship, 85-69, by Alabama Birmingham.

Schwartz values Riley’s experience in the league tournament.

“We know what we’re hunting, what we’re chasing down this trip in Fort Worth,” Schwartz said. “We know you’re watching all these teams get to the NCAA Tournament. Our guys want it, are as hungry as anyone for that.

“Jordan Riley has experienced what it feels like to be in that chase and get beyond and be sitting there on … Championship Sunday. So you talk about what it takes to be at your best, not what it takes to get to Sunday. Because we got one thing. We got to be the best version of ourselves Thursday night.

“All that being said, just what it takes to be at your best in a tournament mindset. Lose and go home. You don’t get it done, it’s over. That kind of mindset. And that’s what we talk about.”

Coincidentally, Temple faces Tulsa in the game prior to ECU’s on Thursday night.

Good time of year — and time to kill

Tournament time is special in college basketball.

“It’s the best time of year for college basketball,” Schwartz said. “Conference tournament. So much great basketball going around. Watching this weekend, Championship Week. And excited that we get a chance to take part in it as we head to Fort Worth.”

The Pirates will have all day Thursday in advance of the 9 p.m. tipoff.

“There’s only so much you can do if you’re in the hotel,” Schwartz said. “They’re not going to be running around. They’re in the hotel. I hope they are watching basketball. I just asked them. I said, ‘Did you guys watch games (Monday) night?’ There were awesome games going on in all the conferences.

“You see teams that punch their ticket. You see semifinal games. You see upsets. This is what it’s about. If you’re a coach or a player right now, you soak it all in.

“I think the difference is coaches are watching it while they’ve got their computers, scouting and watching our old practices or our next opponents.  I think the players, they’re on Instagram or TikTok or one of those things while they’re watching. But I hope they’re watching the games.”

Retrospect

ECU won its first game in the league tournament last year, 84-79, over Tulsa as Ezra Ausar, now at Utah, had 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Felton added 19 points.

The Pirates got 16 points from Felton in a season-ending 81-59 quarterfinal loss to South Florida as ECU finished 15-18.