The Duke Blue Devils get one final chance at comeuppance against one of their most prominent rivals on Friday night. While the Arizona Wildcats are a worthy adversary, all of the attention in Durham will be focused on taking down former North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love.
Love spent three seasons with UNC before he transferred to Tucson ahead of the 2023-24 season, and he’s been a thorn in the Cameron Crazies’ side for years.
He played the villain in two of the biggest games in program history in 2022, scoring 22 points to defeat legendary coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] in his final home game before notching 28 points in a Final Four victory over the Blue Devils just one month later. He returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium with his new school last November and once again emerged with a win, as he’s done in five of his eight career games against the Blue Devils.
Love averaged 16.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in those games, but if Duke basketball fans want a silver lining, he’s been remarkably inefficient in those outings. He’s made just 11 of his 46 attempts (23.9%) from distance over the last seven meetings, and he’s shot a measly 29/84 (34.5%) from the floor in the last six. With the fifth-year senior shooting 35.1% this season and making just 26.3% of his 3-pointers, there’s little reason to think that trend changes on Friday.
No regular-season victory can erase the torment Love exacted on the Blue Devils a few years ago, but it would be undeniably sweet to end the rivalry with one last win.