Arizona point guard Caleb Love reacts after scoring a 3-pointer against the Oregon Ducks during the second round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Climate Pledge Arena Sunday in Seattle. The Wildcats advance to a Sweet 16 game against Duke. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
SEATTLE – Love was in the air in the Pacific Northwest, but it hasn’t always been hearts and roses for Arizona’s fifth-year point guard. Caleb Love has had ups and downs this season that have garnered some negative comments in the college basketball space, including his outside shooting struggles in Arizona’s Big 12 championship loss to Houston.
Good game or bad, it hasn’t stopped Love from setting the example.
“I get asked a lot what it’s like to coach Caleb, and I just tell them it’s really simple. I’ve never had one bad experience,” Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I’ve never had one talk-back, never had one bad body language with me, never had anything like that.”
Love is a big reason Arizona is headed back to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament following a thrilling 87-83 victory over Oregon Sunday in the Round of 32. He led the Wildcats to their second victory in Seattle with 29 points, his second-highest total of the season.
“Just Caleb bein’ Caleb” is not a catchphrase from a ‘90s sitcom, but it could become a slogan for the Wildcats this March.
“Us going down early, we didn’t panic,” said Love, who many project as a second-round NBA draft pick. “Nobody was worried about anything but finishing out the game. I give credit to my teammates, my coaches, they had a great game plan coming into the game. We got a ‘so what, now what’ mentality, and that’s what came out tonight.”
Players and staff were just about the only Wildcats not panicking early on, with the Ducks jumping out to a 19-4 lead just minutes into the game.
Arizona’s resurgence was in large part thanks to 20 second-half points from Love, including going 4 of 5 from behind the arc.
“Caleb was sensational,” Lloyd said. “His approach today of just staying steady, and staying unemotional. I was just really proud of how he came out and played in that moment.”
Love’s level-headed mindset showed when Climate Pledge Arena was at its rowdiest, including a few shots that silenced the Oregon fans. His clutch play down the stretch sent Arizona fans into a frenzy, but it was nothing new to his teammates.
“Everybody knows who Caleb Love is, they know what he does,” Arizona forward Carter Bryant said. “I think we knew once he started hitting shots and his confidence was at an all-time high, we we’re like ‘Yo, we gotta get this guy the ball.’ Everybody knows that’s a bad man.”
Having an experienced presence like Love is huge for Bryant and the other young guys on the team, but even fellow veterans know when it’s time to “find love.”
“Caleb just being Caleb. Everybody’s going to have ups and downs, but you know with Caleb, when he’s on, he’s on.” junior guard Jaden Bradley said. “We kept feeding him, we trust in him, and he had some big-time shots.”
Twenty-nine points give the second-year Wildcats player his highest-scoring tournament game with Arizona and second highest in his career. His only March Madness game with more points dates back to a Sweet 16 matchup with UCLA in 2023, where he dropped 30 as a Tar Heel.
For Love, keeping that steadiness on and off the court can be credited to growth in his faith.
“It plays a big part,” Love said. “I give credit to my mom for instilling that in me early as a child and just trusting in God and keeping my faith in him. That’s what keeps me steady and poised. I give all my credit to God. My relationship with him has grown over the course of my college career.”
A part of his college career will be revisited in the Sweet 16 when the Wildcats face off against his former rival in the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils. Love is 5-4 against Duke, including scoring 28 points in the Final Four to send North Carolina to the championship in what would be former coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game.
Love and the Wildcats will head to Newark, New Jersey, this week for the East Regionals, tipping off against Duke at 6:39 PM MST on Thursday.
“It’s a big matchup, because it’s the next game.” Love said. “Our mind was focused on Oregon and we got it done. Now we’re going to get in the film room and lock in on Duke. They’re a great team, they’re well coached, and we’ll be ready for them when the time comes.”