ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team is set for the second game of its seven-game homestand, welcoming Lipscomb to Addition Financial Arena on Saturday.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: Addition Financial Arena; Orlando, Fla.
TV: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Talent: Austin Lyon (PxP), Mike O'Donnell (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP), Taylor Young (Analyst)
Live Stats: click here
KNIGHT NOTES
- Jaylin Sellers has been one of the nation’s most prolific scorers to begin the 2023-24 campaign. He is averaging 22.2 points per game, which as of Friday morning, is the seventh highest mark in the nation and first in the Big 12. The junior guard is coming off a career-high 34-point outing against Stetson. It was the first 30-point outing of his career and the fourth 20+ point performance of the season, bringing his career tally to 10. He registered six 20-point outings in 62 career games with Ball State and has four in just six contests with the Black and Gold. The 34 points scored against Stetson were the most by a Knight since Brandon Mahan filled up the basket with 32 points against No. 15 Florida State on Dec. 19, 2020. Since then, only C.J. Kelly (Jan. 4, 2023 at ECU) and Ithiel Horton (Jan. 11, 2023 vs. Memphis) had reached the 30-point threshold, accomplishing exactly 30 one time each last season.
- Sellers’ efforts over UCF’s last two games earned him a nod as the Big 12 Conference’s Co-Newcomer of the Week. He averaged 26.5 points, pulling in 7.0 rebounds and shooting 59.4% from the field and 46.2% from the three-point arc. Sellers has scored 15 points or more in each of UCF’s first six games. The last UCF newcomer to score double digits in their first six games was Aubrey Dawkins, who helped lead the Knights to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018-19. Dawkins went on to score 10 or more points in 18 consecutive contests to begin his redshirt junior campaign and tallied 20 or more points on four occasions during the streak. Dawkins later went on to record a career-high 36 points in the final game of the regular season at Temple on Mar. 9, 2019. Sellers scored 23 points in his Knights debut in the season opener. He followed that up with a 22-point, 11-rebound doubledouble at Miami. His first two games as a Knight were eerily similar to that of UCF’s 2023 NBA Draft first-round pick Taylor Hendricks, who scored 23 points in the 2022-23 opener and had a 16-point, 12 rebound double-double in his second game. Sellers became the first UCF player to lead the team in scoring in his first three performances with the Knights in the Johnny Dawkins era (since 2016-17). Sellers is currently the team leader in points and three-point makes and is tied for the lead in rebounds. He has led the team in scoring and rebounds in four of UCF’s six contests thus far.
- As a team, UCF is approaching a top-10 national ranking in blocks per game, currently sitting 19th with 5.7 per game. Ibrahima Diallo is currently averaging 2.83 blocks per game which stands as the top mark in the Big 12 and 10th nationally. He also leads the Big 12 in total blocks, recording 17, a mark that is 18th in the country. Omar Payne has accumulated 1.33 blocks per game, ranking eighth in the Big 12 and 140th in the nation; his eight blocks rank eighth in the Big 12. Diallo swatted aside five shots against Cal St. Fullerton, leading the Knights. He also led UCF in rebounds with eight in that contest, adding eight points and a steal in the process. Diallo has led the Knights in blocks in each game so far this season.
- UCF is currently averaging 16.67 forced turnovers per game, a mark that is ranked 25th in the nation and fourth in the Big 12. The Knights also rank around the top 50 in steals and blocks per game, sitting 19th in blocks per game with a 5.7 average and 52nd in steals per game with a mark of 9.0. The Black and Gold’s defense impressed on opening night, generating 24 turnovers and 16 steals. The turnovers were the most since forcing 24 turnovers at Memphis on Feb. 16, 2023. The 16 steals marked the first time the Knights recorded 16 steals since facing Cincinnati on Feb. 19, 2020. UCF added 18 forced turnovers and 11 steals at then-No. 13 Miami on Nov. 10, 2023. The Knights have forced double-digit turnovers in each of their six games thus far, and have forced 15 or more in five of the six contests.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
- UCF and Lipscomb will meet for the fourth time in program history, with UCF holding a 3-1 all-time series lead. Addition Financial Arena hadn't been built the last time these two sides met, as the most recent meeting was on Jan. 31, 2005 when the Knights hosted and defeated the Bisons 67-58.
LIPSCOMB NOTES
- Lipscomb is in its 93rd season of basketball and 20th as a full ASUN member. The Bisons made it to the ASUN Semifinals last season.
- Jacob Ognacevic was a weapon for Lipscomb last year and was named 2023 ASUN Preseason All-Conference. Ognacevic earned Preseason All-ASUN honors after being named a 2022-23 ASUN First Team All-Conference member. The forward was also named 2022-23 NABC Second Team All-District after a breakout sophomore campaign. The Sheboygan, Wisconsin native led Lipscomb in scoring last season with 17.7 points per game, good for second in the ASUN last season. Always consistent, Ognacevic connected at a 67.7-percent clip which was a top-20 mark in the NCAA and the top mark in the ASUN. One of the most consistent scorers in the country, Ognacevic ranked 45th in the nation in total field goals (221) last season and shot 85.2-percent from the free throw line. In addition, he averaged 4.4 rebounds per game a season ago and added nine blocks and seven steals with 19 assists.
- The Bisons are without center Ahsan Asadullah for the first time in the last five years. Asadullah is Lipscomb’s all-time rebounding leader and the ASUN all-time leading rebounder.
- The Bisons returned 11 athletes from last season, including three starters in Jacob Ognacevic, Derrin Boyd and Will Pruitt. The returning players contributed 62.6% of last year’s scoring with Ognacevic leading last year’s scoring with 583 total points. Lipscomb’s returning starters were last year’s top three scorers and scored nearly 50% of the Bisons’ points.Lipscomb added six to the roster this season by way of two transfers and four freshmen.
- The Bisons were picked to finish fifth in the Preseason ASUN Coaches Poll and third in the Preseason Media Poll.
- Lipscomb has made it to one NCAA Tournament (2018) and have made the postseason for 12-consecutive seasons.
- The Bisons are top ranked top 50 in the NCAA in multiple categories. They are:
- 21st in three-point makes per game, sinking an average of 10 triples per game
- 32nd in field goal percentage, making 49.6% of their shots from the floor
- 35th in points per game, averaging 84.2 per contest
- 48th in three-point percentage, converting behind the arc at a 38.1% clip