‘I made the shot’: Arizona’s Caleb Love prepares for 10th meeting against Duke as he recalls his favorite one

The only outward sign of Caleb Love’s ACC history Wednesday was the splash of light blue on the the multi-colored sneakers he wore during Arizona’s practice at Prudential Center.

Inward, though, feelings run deep between Arizona’s shooting guard and the team he’ll face — again — when No. 1-ranked Duke plays Arizona in Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament East Regional semifinal.

Love will be playing his 10th game against Duke, the first eight coming while he wore a North Carolina Tar Heels uniform from 2020-23. One of the biggest shots of his career — perhaps the biggest in the minds of many UNC fans — came in April 2022. His 3-pointer with 25 seconds left gave UNC a four-point lead over Duke in their epic Final Four showdown, won 81-77 by UNC.

When asked about that play on Wednesday, Love did his best to focus on Arizona, where he’s played the last two seasons.

“I made the shot,” he said, smiling. “I mean, it really has no relevance to this game coming up. I just want to focus on the game plan that we have set. I want my focus to be with this group.”

Duke coach Jon Scheyer was still the Blue Devils’ associate head coach that day, knowing he would be taking over as head coach once that Duke season ended. Love expedited that move with his play that day in New Orleans.

This will be the third time Scheyer has coached against Love since he transferred to Arizona. Love and the Wildcats won the first meeting, 78-73, in November 2023 at Cameron Indoor Stadium when Love had `Tar Heel 4L” written on his game sneakers.

This season, on Nov. 22, Duke returned the favor with a 67-55 win at Arizona.

Love has gone on to lead the Wildcats in scoring (16.8 points per game) while averaging 3.5 assists.

“The thing that he does, he can shoot shots at any time, and he can hit shots at any time,” Scheyer said Wednesday. “I think he’s an improved passer, somebody that’s not afraid. He’s a really good player, so that challenge is there for our guys.”

After Love scored 29 points in Arizona’s 87-83 win over Oregon on Sunday night, he conducted a live television interview on the court. He paused when asked how the Wildcats would be able to stop Duke this time.

“I didn’t want to give them no fuel or bulletin board material,” Love said on Wednesday.

Love’s teams are 5-4 against Duke during his college career. While he will be playing his 10th game with the Blue Devils, that’s not as many as two of his former UNC teammates, Armando Bacot and RJ Davis. They were both part of that 2022 Final Four team, with Bacot going 6-5 against Duke while Davis finished 6-6.

A St. Louis native, Love said his city upbringing plays a role in being a strong player in big games.

“I just think that’s me not being afraid of the moment and me trying to impose my will,” Love said, “kind of like a St. Louis swagger to the game. Me being from St. Louis, I’m not afraid of anything, anybody. I think just me channeling that, my inner St. Louis in me. But this Duke team does….they’re physical. They’re long. They’re athletic and things like that. We’ve got to play kind of mind games and things like that to create advantages for ourselves on both ends of the floor.”

Sion James, Duke’s hulking 6-6 guard who moved into the starting lineup for good two weeks after that win at Arizona, said Love presents many challenges the Blue Devils are preparing to meet.

“Gravity, for one,” James said. “We have to be on alert all the time, because, you know he can shoot from deep. You know he can and will shoot from anywhere on the floor. He’s just a really talented player who can do everything on the court. And a heightened sense of awareness. You don’t guard him just with just one player. You guard him with five.”

The Duke player Love is most familiar with is junior guard Tyrese Proctor, who has made 19 of his last 30 3-pointers over the past three games. Proctor played against Love with UNC during the 2022-23 season and faced him each of the past two seasons with Arizona.

“He’s been hot from 3 and he’s a great defender,” Love said. “We have to handle that with care in terms of running him off the line.”

Whether it’s against Duke or not, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd is glad Love decided to use the transfer portal to leave UNC and finish his career with the Wildcats.

“He’s an awesome person,” Lloyd said. “I have not seen many 22-, 23-year-olds that have had to endure what he’s had to endure in his life, and he continues to show up every day. And I’ve never had a bad experience with him with attitude, body language, talking back, anything like that. That’s the real Caleb Love. I get to know the real Caleb Love. You guys know a perception of what Caleb Love is in what you see on the court. I think a lot of the assessments of him are unfair, but that’s the reality he has to live, and he’s handled it really well.”