Last weekend against Baylor, UNC sophomore guard Caleb Love watched the end of the game from the bench after fouling out. Friday night in Philadelphia, Love stayed on the court, and took matters into his own hands.

Love played perhaps his best game as a Tar Heel in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 against No. 4 seed UCLA, scoring 27 points in the second half to end with a career-high 30 on the night, including a huge three-pointer with a minute to go which gave UNC the lead for good. It was the last of his five second-half threes, and Carolina needed every one of them in the 73-66 win.

“The only thing that I’ve ever wanted is I want [the team] to experience and see the things that I’ve been able to experience here at North Carolina as a player,” said head coach Hubert Davis after the game. “This year, where I feel happiness and joy… is that they’re getting those memories.”

The game truly resembled a tale of two halves, as both teams fought through poor shooting in the first. Carolina took a 12-10 lead on a layup from senior wing Leaky Black, but then scored only two points in the next six minutes as UCLA went on a 10-2 run to take a lead as large as eight. Wing Jaime Jaquez, who was questionable to play coming into the night with an ankle injury, attacked early and often on offense to the tune of eight first-half points. A jumper from Jaquez gave UCLA a three-point lead heading into halftime.

Love, who only had three points on 1-8 shooting in the first half, decided it was time for a change of footwear.

“[Director of Operations Eric] Hoots told me to change them because I never play good in the black shoes,” Love said. “And it worked out.”

“I’m going to give him a raise!” Davis said of Hoots’ decision.

The change worked wonders, as Love came out with a purpose in the second half. He scored eight of UNC’s first 11 points to keep pace with the Bruins, who despite the outburst still held a 42-39 lead. After three free throws and a jumper from fellow sophomore R.J. Davis gave Carolina the lead, Love took command by scoring UNC’s next 12 points. But not even Love’s personal Superman impression could help the Tar Heels pull away, as his final three of those 12 points only tied the game at 56 apiece.

The Bruins kept pace with jumpers from star wing Johnny Juzang, as well as the outstanding play of crafty point guard Tyger Campbell. Juzang and Campbell, both starters on UCLA’s Final Four team a year ago, combined to score 29 points on the night.

The Bruins took a 60-56 lead with 5:42 remaining on a dunk from Myles Johnson, and a missed three-pointer from the suddenly ice-cold Brady Manek threatened to send Carolina into the dreaded “Danger Zone.” But Armando Bacot cleaned up the miss, drawing a foul in the process and converting two free throws. On UNC’s next possession, after a miss from Juzang, Manek bounced back by draining a go-ahead three, and was greeted with a massive fist pump from Hubert Davis on the sideline.

“We have great peace and confidence to be able to close out games, because we’ve done that before,” Davis said. “We’ve been in those situations before, late-clock, late situations where a play needs to be had, and we’ve always stepped up to the challenge, whether it’s worked out for us or not.”

Manek finished just 5-13 from the floor against the Bruins and 3-1o from three-point range, but his last shot stood as his biggest of the game.

UCLA answered with two straight buckets, the last of which came from Campbell on another incisive move into the lane. Then came the play of the game: Love quickly pulled up for a potential game-tying three which missed, but Bacot chased down the rebound, jumped over the baseline to save it and heaved the ball back toward the midcourt line. Had a Bruin been on the receiving end, it would have turned into a breakaway layup. Instead, the ball found Love. Still in rhythm, Love stepped back for another triple and buried it to tie the game.

“I think my instincts took over,” Bacot said of the play. “That was a pivotal moment in the game. I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t get that board, and I just was trying to really keep the play alive and just threw the ball up hoping that somebody would get it.”

Jaquez, suddenly cold himself, missed on the other end, and everyone in light blue (both shades) knew who was taking UNC’s next shot. Love heaved up another long three with 1:03 to go, and it found the bottom of the net once more to give Carolina the lead.

“In any game, but specifically in big-time games like this, it has nothing to do with coaching,” Davis said when asked about Love’s performance. “It’s about players just stepping up and making plays. Everybody that played made plays, and Caleb made a lot, especially in the second half.”

Caleb Love stepped up in a big way in the second half. (Image via Todd Melet)

UNC’s defense forced yet another miss from Jaquez, and UCLA elected not to foul, down three points with the clock ticking under a minute. After bleeding the shot clock down, R.J. Davis tossed up a runner in the lane which rimmed out, but Bacot tapped in the rebound to give Carolina a critical two-possession lead in the waning seconds. Love capped off his career night with two free throws to ice the game, the final points of his 30-point outburst. UNC closed out the game on a 12-2 run.

What was going through Love’s head during the explosion?

“Never lose my confidence level. Coach Davis and my teammates always tell me that,” he said. “I feel like that’s the best part of my game is not to lose my confidence level. And when I’m out there, I’m just in a mode, and that’s what that was tonight.”

Lost in the shuffle of the night were yet another double-double from Bacot, who scored 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. He is now tied for the Division I lead with 28 this season. Since Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe’s season is over, one more from Bacot would give him the lead among all players.

“I was just going all out just trying to affect the game in as many ways as possible,” Bacot said.

R.J. Davis added in 12 points to follow up his own 30-point performance last weekend, but struggled from the field overall, shooting just 3-11.

It seems that at on any given night, any one of UNC’s players can step up and put together a career performance. At the same time, any one of them can also go cold from the field and struggle to make a dent offensively. Yes, it seems the entire Carolina team has signed on to the Caleb Love Experience.

The next stop on March’s wild ride will be one no fan anywhere in the country could have predicted: an Elite Eight showdown with No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks have become the darlings of the tournament by besting No. 2 seed Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue on their way to the regional finals. Needless to say, the Peacocks are vying for their first-ever appearance in the Final Four. Though UNC has put together quite a Cinderella story of its own this month, it will have to stop the Cinderella of all Cinderellas dead in its tracks if it hopes to appear in an all-time record 21st Final Four.

“They have a chip on their shoulder and a toughness and a confidence to give everything that they have on both ends of the floor on every play,” Hubert Davis said of the Peacocks. “And they’re here for a reason, because they’re an incredible team, but they’re also incredibly tied together. Tremendous chemistry. On Sunday it’ll be our toughest game of the year.”

 

Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.

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