We meet again! Arizona guard Caleb Love, former Tar Heel nemesis, plays Duke one last time
READ MORE
2025 NCAA Tournament
The latest results, news, notes and analysis from the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Expand All
Caleb Love and Duke, well, they have a history.
In his second season at Arizona, after three seasons at North Carolina, Love has already played nine games against the Blue Devils.
Thursday, he’ll make it an even 10 when Arizona and Duke meet in the NCAA Tournament East Regional semifinals at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
This won’t be the most consequential time Love has played against the Blue Devils. That will always be April 2, 2022, when the Tar Heels beat Duke, 81-77, at the Final Four in New Orleans.
But Thursday comes closest to that because it’s in the NCAA Tournament, between two teams among the event’s Sweet 16. If Duke (33-3) wins, it moves on to the regional final and within a win of returning to the Final Four. That also would mean Love’s college basketball career would end.
If Love leads Arizona over Duke, it would bring a shocking end to a Duke season where the Blue Devils are playing like an NCAA championship contender.
The 6-4, 205-pound guard from St. Louis faces Duke coming off a stellar performance. He scored 29 points, making 5 of 7 3-pointers, when Arizona beat Oregon, 87-84, Sunday night in an NCAA Tournament second-round game. That’s a stark contrast to his eight-point performance when Duke beat Arizona, 69-55, last Nov. 22 in Tucson, Arizona.
Yes, Love has had ups and downs against Duke: He helped UNC beat Duke twice over a four-week period in the 2021-22 season; but he and the Tar Heels also suffered two losses to the Blue Devils the following season when UNC missed the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s a look back at those matchups over the past five seasons:
2024: Duke 69, Arizona 55
On Nov. 22 at McHale Center in Tucson, Love made just 1 of 9 3-pointers, hitting 3 of 13 shots overall, while scoring eight points in the Duke’s win. Love’s subpar shooting contributed to Arizona’s loss as the Wildcats suffered through a scoring drought lasting 5:03 in the first half, missing eight consecutive shots. They endured another scoreless stretch of 4:02 early in the second half when Duke pushed its lead to double-digits for the first time at 42-31 with 15:23 to play.
2023: Arizona 78, Duke 73
On Nov. 10, Love’s first road game since transferring from UNC to Arizona brought him back to a familiar place — Cameron Indoor Stadium. He scored 11 points, and made four free throws in the last 18 seconds to secure the Wildcats win. Love did so with “Tar Heel 4L” written on his sneakers.
“Obviously, it was on my mind for a minute,” Love said. “As soon as I saw that they were on the schedule, my eyes got bigger. But we came in and we handled business. That’s all that matters.”
2023: Duke 62, UNC 57
On March 4, In what would be his final home game with UNC at the Smith Center, Love missed all six of his 3-point attempts while going 3 of 12 from the field and scoring 11 points, as the Tar Heels were swept by their rivals. The Tar Heels missed their final seven shots, including Love’s 3-point attempt in the final minute that could have tied the game. It was another sour moment for a UNC team that began the season ranked No. 1, but went 20-13 and missed the NCAA Tournament.
2023: Duke 63, UNC 57
On Feb. 4, Love scored 12 points, on an inefficient 5 of 15 shooting day, as Duke beat the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Love finished with four assists but committed a pair of turnovers. Duke outscored Carolina 16-0 in fast-break points in the first half and finished with a 20-2 advantage.
“We got to push it more with with the pass instead of the dribble,” Love said. “And we’re taught that in practice and we just got to translate — we do it in practice, but we got to translate it into the game.”
2022: UNC 81, Duke 77
At the Superdome in New Orleans, on April 2, heated rivals Duke and UNC played against one another in the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Their Final Four matchup felt apocalyptic, it coming in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as Duke’s head coach.
Love helped the Tar Heels end Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame career, scoring 28 points while playing all 40 minutes. He only made 3 of 10 3-pointers, but his shot over Duke center Mark Williams’ outstretched hands with 25 seconds left pushed UNC’s lead to four points and Duke was done.
2022: UNC 94, Duke 81
On March 5, in Krzyzewski’s final home game coaching Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Tar Heels spoiled the day by rallying in the second half to beat the Blue Devils. Love made only 4 of 17 shots from the field, but he sank all 12 of his free throws to score 22 points for UNC. He scored 15 points after halftime and played with poise by committing just one turnover to go with five assists.
2022: Duke 87, UNC 67
The Blue Devils dominated the Tar Heels in Krzyzewski’s final game coaching at the Smith Center. Love scored eight points while going 3 of 10 from the field, including 1 of 5 on 3-pointers. He turned the ball over four times.
2021: UNC 91, Duke 73
On March 6, in front of a few thousand family members in a crowd limited by COVID-19 pandemic guidelines, Love scored 18 points and collected seven assists as the Tar Heels routed Duke. Love hit 6 of 12 shots overall, including 2 of 6 3-pointers.
2021: UNC 91, Duke 87
On Feb. 6, Love’s first game against Duke came in the oddest of circumstances. No spectators were allowed inside Cameron Indoor Stadium due to COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. But he shined with 25 points in 30 minutes, making 9 of 16 shots. That included 4 of 5 on 3-pointers.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "We meet again! Arizona guard Caleb Love, former Tar Heel nemesis, plays Duke one last time."
.JPG)
.JPG)
