Caleb Love, Arizona hand Duke first home loss under Scheyer

By Brian Murphy, WRAL

12Arizona Wildcats	78
2Duke Blue Devils	73
Final

Durham, N.C. — As he left the Cameron Indoor Stadium court for the final time, Arizona guard Caleb Love — the former North Carolina standout — waved goodbye to the Duke faithful that had booed him throughout Friday night's early season showdown.

"I just told them goodbye," Love said. "It’s over with."

Love had the last laugh. He and No. 12 Arizona defeated the second-ranked Blue Devils 78-73, handing second-year Duke coach his first home loss.

Love, of course, was part of the UNC team that defeated former Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski in his final home game and, again, in his final ever game in the NCAA Tournament.

On Friday night, Love played big in the final moments of a tense, tight contest. He assisted on the go-ahead three-point play by Keshad Johnson with less than one minute remaining to give Arizona the lead for good and then made four free throws down the stretch.

Johnson's lay-up and free throw gave Arizona a 70-69 lead.

"It was on my mind for a little minute," Love said of the game at Duke. "As soon as I saw that they were on the schedule, my eyes got bigger. We came in and we handled business. That's all that matters."

Love made two free throws with 17.4 seconds left and another pair with 4.6 seconds remaining.

"He deserved that moment," Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after the game. "For him to calmly step up and go four-for-four from the line down the stretch says a lot about him as a competitor."

He added an assist, his third, on a final dunk by Johnson to close out the scoring. Love finished with 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

It may have lacked the heroics of Love's decisive 3-pointer with less than 25 seconds left in the 2022 national semifinals, but it was a satisfying return for the senior who left Chapel Hill after a disappointing 2023 campaign when UNC became the first preseason AP No. 1 team to miss the NCAA Tournament in the modern era.

Love wore sneakers that said "Tar Heel 4L," short for Tar Heel for life, written on them and had a light blue Nike swoosh.

"That's what I am. I'm a Tar Heel for life," Love said. "Regardless of what our differences are or what happened in the past, I still got love for Tar Heel nation and I love them."

He said he spoke with some of his former teammates leading up the game.

"They told me to handle business," Love said. "I told them I’m getting this win for them as well."

Love blocked a 3-point attempt by Duke's Mark Mitchell late in the first half and then made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Arizona a 41-33 lead at halftime.

Krzyzewski sat in the front row along the baseline for the game alongside his wife, Mickie.

Sophomore Kyle Filipowski, the ACC's preseason player of the year, led the Blue Devils with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting. His layup with 1:08 left gave Duke the lead at 69-67.

Guard Jeremy Roach added 17 points for the Blue Devils, who had been 17-0 at Cameron under Scheyer in his second season since replacing Krzyzewski.

The on-campus meeting between top basketball powers is increasingly uncommon with such meetings often held at neutral sites. Duke will visit Arizona in 2024.

Mitchell, who missed the season-opening victory against Dartmouth, was in the starting lineup. He finished with nine points in 30 minutes.

"There's no other way, other than experiencing something, to know what you have to improve and where you have to be better," Scheyer said. "So I'm thankful to them for the reality check."