Without Toppin, the Knicks have won two of their last three games. In that time, Dayton (4-1) did not play a game, though Toppin has kept an eye on the team he helped lead to 29 victories a season ago and talks to Crutcher about what the Flyers need to do to improve.
“I just got off the phone with him,” Crutcher said Monday. “I talk to him every day. In the beginning when we were starting off slow, he was like, ‘You all can be a great team; I can see it. You just have to be together.’ I think we’re getting it now.”
The Flyers (4-1) returned to campus Saturday and to practice Sunday in preparation for a game Wednesday against La Salle (3-5) at UD Arena. It’s the first of 18 Atlantic 10 Conference games.
In many ways, Dayton is still a work in progress because it has played so few games. A year ago, it played six games in November. This season, Dayton didn’t play a game until Dec. 1. After a flurry of early cancellations by opponents, it was fortunate to play five non-conference games without any more COVID-19 setbacks.
“Like most people, under the circumstances, we were trying to figure ourselves out as we played those games,” coach Anthony Grant said Monday. “I think we were able to learn about ourselves. We played five games, and all five of them came down to the last possessions of the game. When you go through those experiences, you hope to learn from them. We were fortunate to win four of the five, and I’d rather learn from winning than from losing. When you start conference, everyone’s 0-0, and you’re looking forward to getting in your league and getting things kicked off. We’ve got a great challenge ahead of us.”
Before looking ahead, here’s a look back at Dayton’s performance in December during non-conference play.
MVP: Ibi Watson has a slight edge over Jalen Crutcher, a two-time team MVP, at this point. Watson leads the team in scoring (18.0) and 3-point shooting (13 of 27, 48.1 percent), with Crutcher trailing in both categories (17.2 and 11 of 28, 39.3).
Top newcomer: The new Flyers got little playing time in the first five games. R.J. Blakney, Moulaye Sissoko, Zimi Nwokeji and Elijah Weaver combined to score 17 points in 142 minutes.
Only Blakney, who averaged 2.2 points, made a significant impact, so he earns the nod as the top newcomer through five games. Weaver played in only the last game against Ole Miss and likely will see his playing time increase in the weeks ahead. Another player to keep an eye on is freshman forward Mustapha Amzil, who joined the team Dec. 19 and started practice Sunday.
Crutcher and Weaver both said Amzil proved to be a fast learner in that first practice.
“Obviously, there’s a lot he has to get up to speed with,” Grant said. “He did a really good job on day one of putting himself in a position where the guys felt that way. I thought he did a good job picking things up and fitting in.”
Best stat: Dayton ranks 14th in the country in effective field-goal percentage (57.6), which combines 2-point and 3-point shooting. It ranked first in that category last season but maintained a lofty perch despite losing Obi Toppin, one of the most efficient scorers in school history, to the NBA.
Worst stat: Dayton ranks last in the A-10 in turnover margin (minus 3.0 per game). The Flyers average a league-worst 18.0 turnovers per game. No one else averages more than 16.0. Dayton opponents have averaged 15 turnovers per game.
Best victory: Dayton beat Mississippi 65-62 on Dec. 19 in its last game before the holiday break. That was the best victory by an A-10 team, according to the Ken Pomeroy ratings, until Ole Miss lost its Southeastern Conference opener Tuesday: 82-64 at Alabama. The Rebels fell from No. 33 to No. 43.
Worst loss: Dayton lost only one game in December: 66-64 to Southern Methodist on Dec. 5 at UD Arena. Emmanuel Bandoumel made a last-second jump shot to break the tie. SMU (5-0) finished non-conference play by beating East Carolina 70-55 on Dec. 16.
Best game: Dayton’s 85-82 double-overtime victory against Mississippi State on Dec. 12 in Atlanta ranks as the fifth-most exciting game of the season so far, according to KenPom.com.
Biggest milestone: When he records his next assist, Crutcher will become the first player in Dayton history to have 1,200 points, 500 assists and 200 3-pointers. Crutcher ranks seventh in 3-pointers (205), 11th in assists (499) and 29th in scoring (1,256), two spots behind Scoochie Smith (1,289).
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