Dayton Flyers focus on fixing turnover issues

Senior Darrell Davis sent a group text to all of his Dayton Flyers teammates during the bus ride from Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Miss., to the airport. He apologized to them for turning the ball over in the final seconds. That play led to a game-winning layup by Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon with 0.8 seconds to play.

Point guard Jalen Crutcher got the text by Davis. He said the players responded to Davis by saying, “We’ve got your back.”

Pandemonium!!! @IAM_QUINN11

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #Hailstate🐶 #ItsLit🔥 #DawgsWin😤💪🏿 pic.twitter.com/QMRwEtwPwG— Anthony Dixon (@Boobie24Dixon) December 4, 2017

That turnover was one of 26 by the Flyers in a 61-59 loss Sunday. In terms of turnover percentage (turnovers divided by possessions), this was Dayton's fifth-worst game since 2002, according to KenPom.com. The Flyers committed turnovers on 36.1 percent of 72 possessions.

» WATCH: Video of Mississippi State’s game-winner

Dayton (3-4) turned the ball over 19 times in its previous game, a 73-60 loss to Auburn, and needs to improve in that area fast it wants to get back on the winning track at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Tennessee Tech (7-2).

“All turnovers aren’t created equal,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Monday. “We had 26 turnovers in the game, and probably six or seven of them we were trying to do thing things we need to do. There’s probably another 12 to 14 of them which are unforced turnovers. We’re forcing things and not doing what we need to do. Those are things we need to clean up and get better. It’s a process. We’ve talked about it. The last two games we’ve really struggled.”

Dayton's worst turnover games since 2002. Not number of turnovers, but turnover percentage (turnovers divided by possessions). pic.twitter.com/fCYi916f43
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) December 4, 2017

» ARCHDEACON: Historic comeback bid falls short

Dayton has 18 assists and 45 turnovers in its last two games. Among the 14 Atlantic 10 teams, Dayton ranks 13th in turnovers per game (14.1).

“I feel like we’re just rushing everything,” forward Josh Cunningham said. “We’re a little too fast. We’ve got to slow down and go at our pace instead of letting teams rush us. We’ve just got to make better decisions.”

In his first start, Crutcher scored a career-high 18 points but also committed five turnovers and didn’t record an assist. He played much better in the second half, committing only one turnover in 18 minutes. That was a big reason the Flyers rallied from a 21-point deficit to tie the game twice in the final minutes.

Dayton has trailed at halftime five times in its first seven games. Three times it has faced double-digit deficits at the break.

“We always struggle in the first half,” Crutcher said, “and the second half we always boost our intensity on defense. The second half we started getting stops and started scoring.”