The biggest moments of Caleb Love’s five-year college basketball career have almost all come against one team: the Duke Blue Devils. The former North Carolina Tar Heel downed Duke with 22 points in Coach K’s final game at Cameron Indoor in 2022 and bounced the Blue Devils from the Final Four with 28 points about a month later. Now a First-Team All-Big 12 performer in his second year at Arizona, Love had one last special performance against his arch-rivals in the Sweet 16.
Love’s No. 4 seed Wildcats didn’t have enough against the top seed from the East Region at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday night, falling 100-93, but in the final game of his storied career, Love went out on his sword with 35 points on 11/21 from the field with four rebounds and no turnovers.
The senior guard’s career has been defined by its distinct peaks and valleys, and despite the loss, it ended on a high note. Love was unstoppable on Thursday night, knocking down five of his 11 threes and keeping Arizona in the game that appeared to be slipping away with a heroic second-half effort. However, trailing 89-83 with 2:42 left in the second half, Love missed a three-pointer to cut the game to Duke lead to just one possession.
Blue Devils fans get a measure of revenge for that 2022 season with this result and the national title favorites move one step closer with an Elite Eight matchup against Alabama set for Saturday night, but maybe more than that Duke fans can exhale and take solace in the fact that Love’s career has come to an end.
For his career, Love faced Duke 10 times and averaged 17.8 points a game, his highest against any opponent he faced five or more times. Though his career came to an end out in Tucson, Love will be remembered first and foremost for his battles with the Blue Devils, and that includes his legendary performance in a Sweet 16 loss.