On Friday, Duke basketball will face former North Carolina Tar Heels guard [autotag]Caleb Love[/autotag] once again in a road game against the Arizona Wildcats.
Love spent three seasons in Chapel Hill before transferring to the Wildcats, most notably scoring 28 points to send the Blue Devils home in the 2022 Final Four. He returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2023 with his new team, helping Arizona pull off a 78-73 victory.
In 2024, however, the matchup will be between two teams coming off of tough losses in the last week. For Duke, it was a Tuesday loss to Kentucky Wildcats, while Arizona lost to the Wisconsin Badgers.
Through three games this season, Love has averaged 11.0 points, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 35.1% from the floor. Let’s break down his performance in the first three games.
Against the Canisius Golden Griffins to open the season, Love played 21 minutes, going 7/15 (46.7%) from the field to finish with 17 points. He was 3/8 (37.5%) from 3-point range and grabbed four rebounds with six assists, both season-highs.
Against Old Dominion, Love played 23 minutes and scored 10 points after he shot 4/9 (44.4%) from the field. He went 2/5 (40.0%) from deep with three rebounds and one assist.
Finally, against the Badgers, Love had the worst performance of his season thus far. He played 25 minutes, a season-high, but only managed six points after he went 2-13 (15.4%) from the field. He missed all six of his 3-point looks, but he did add two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.