When Temple lost five days before Christmas to a Maryland Eastern Shore team that was 305th in the NET rankings, Owls coach Aaron McKie said this, among other things, after the embarrassing loss.

“I’m still trying to get answers, because everybody’s desires have to match,” McKie said following the 86-78 defeat that dropped Temple to 6-7. “Winning has to be important. And until we get to that point, we’re going to have inconsistencies.”

Have the Owls arrived at that point, or closer to it, over the last eight days? Cleared the air in a team meeting to get things headed in the right direction? We’ll get a better answer after Wednesday night’s American Athletic Conference opener at ECU, with tip off set for 7 p.m. (ESPN+) in Greenville, North Carolina.

Either way, Temple could be setting out to win its first league game in shorthanded – or very shorthanded – fashion.

In addition to being without starting center Jamille Reynolds until the end of January at the earliest or perhaps even mid-February at the latest with a right thumb injury, redshirt sophomore guard Damian Dunn is considered a game-time decision after sustaining a head injury in the UMES loss.

Dunn, who is averaging 14.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, was at one point leading the country in scoring after a torrid, three-game stretch to open the season in which he scored 29 points in an overtime loss to Wagner, 22 in Temple’s win over Villanova and then a career-high 38 in another overtime loss, to Vanderbilt.

But other than the Villanova win, and consecutive 17-point outings in wins over La Salle and VCU in which he combined to shoot 12 of 23 from the floor and collect 10 rebounds and nine assists, Dunn and Khalif Battle have not been able to find any semblance of chemistry playing together.

Nor has the team, for that matter. Temple is ranked last in the American heading into conference play with a -1.77 turnover margin. Dunn himself has committed 41 turnovers through 13 games, more than half of the 76 he had all of last season. The Owls are also 10th in the league in combined team rebounds (33.6 per game), 10th in offensive rebounds (9.2 per game) and ninth in defensive rebounds (24.4 per game.)

ECU carries a 9-4 record into Wednesday night’s conference opener under first-year head coach and former Tennessee assistant Michael Schwartz, with 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Javon Small leading the Pirates with 17.1 points and 5.2 assists per game. ECU has won three in a row but has also benefited from a light schedule. An 86-75 win over Toledo back on Nov. 22 would be considered the Pirates’ best win of the season so far, as the Rockets are currently 8-4 and 108th in the latest NET rankings, but ECU’s nine victories have come over teams with a combined 39-63 record.

A Dec. 6 74-61 loss to a UNC-Wilmington team that is now 8-3 and 73rd in the latest NET rankings would qualify as ECU’s toughest opponent to date, and the Pirates, like Temple, also have an ugly loss on their resume -- a 73-68 Nov. 29 defeat at home to a South Carolina State team that is 2-13 and 339th in the NET rankings.

In addition to Small, Temple will have to contend with sophomore Brandon Johnson. The 6-8, 225-pound forward is ECU’s top frontcourt player and has averaged 12.1 points and a team- and conference-best 9.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard RJ Felton, the third of three Pirates players averaging double-figure scoring, has posted 12.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per outing.