Transfer Tapes: Jaylin Sellers' Double Double Against Miami

In Jaylin Sellers’ second game in a UCF uniform, he and the Knights headed to Miami to play the 13th ranked Hurricanes on an emotional night.

The Canes raised the banner for their Final Four appearance seven months prior, and returned a team expected to finish near the top of the ACC.

In this edition of Transfer Tapes we’ll take a look at a double double from Sellers, as he went up against old friend Bensley Joseph and Miami.

Game: Miami defeats UCF, 88-72, on Nov. 10, 2023

Setting the Stage:

• This was not only Sellers’ second game in a UCF uniform, but just the team’s second as a member of the Big 12.

• The UCF lineup of November looked a lot different than the one we saw against Kansas two months later. Ohio State transfer center Ibrahima Diallo didn’t start, and CJ Walker (a former five star recruit/transfer from Oregon) was still working his way back from injury. Both Shemarri Allen and DeMarr Langford started against Miami, while neither saw much time against Kansas.

• Miami had good pieces — point guard Nijel Pack and big man Norchad Omier returned, and they were joined by a pair of players who spent last season in the Big East in Bensley Joseph (Providence) and Wooga Poplar (Villanova).

• Watching the Canes in this one served as a reminder of just how quickly a program can unravel in college basketball. The team that was flying so high on this night ended up finishing 15-17 overall and 6-14 in the ACC, and they went 7-24 in 2024-25.

• Still, they were playing with the early season confidence of a team coming off a Final Four — one that expected to do legitimate damage in 2023-24.

What stood out?

Sellers’ aggression, for one. The future Friar scored 23 points in his debut with UCF and was impressive against Miami — despite not having a great shooting night from deep and his team falling in an early hole.

He finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, two turnovers, and an assist in 34 minutes. He shot 0-7 beyond the arc, but did damage inside. Sellers went 9-21 on the game, had three traditional three-point plays in the second half, and grabbed six offensive rebounds.

Virtually all of his drives to the rim came going left, and he aggressively sought out contact on seemingly every one one of them.

Sellers was just relentless throughout the game.

“He’s a guy we brought in here to be one of our scorers and he’s living up to that thus far. He’s finding ways to score even though he hasn’t shot the ball like he’s capable of shooting it,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said afterwards.

Miami started hot, taking a 24-14 lead behind 5-8 shooting from three — a lead they eventually bumped to 30-18. Sellers had some great looks beyond the arc, but didn’t convert. He made a tough midrange fadeaway to stem a Miami run and hit the offensive glass hard in a first half in which he team finished down, 41-27.

UCF made a great run in the second half, but they were eventually hampered by foul trouble. Miami was in the bonus less than five minutes in.

Joseph was just outstanding defensively throughout (5 steals, 4 blocks), while Poplar couldn’t miss (6-8 FG, 5-5 from three, 6-6 FT) en route to 23 points. Joseph also added 15 points and five assists.

Trailing 58-41, UCF cut it to 58-48 with over ten minutes left. After Miami pushed its lead back to 14, Sellers converted on a pair of traditional 3-point plays on consecutive possessions with eight minutes still remaining.

Sellers picked up his fourth foul a minute later trying to come up with a steal, and while UCF eventually made this a 68-62 game, Miami got to the line and came up with critical stops and transition scores when they most needed it.

Sellers’ third three-point play of the second half came with under four minutes left to keep this one around 10, but eventually playing uphill was too much for UCF to overcome on a feel-good night in Miami.

Regardless, it was hard not to be encouraged by the force and aggression that Sellers played with throughout the game.

His three and-1s really stood out after a season in which Providence rarely had any. In fact, only three Friars had five (or more) all of last season: Joseph (5), Wesley Cardet (6), and Oswin Erhunmwunse (9).