NEW ORLEANS --- Second Half Caleb came through again on Saturday night, in the biggest moments on the biggest stage. North Carolina's Caleb Love scored 22 points in the second half, none bigger than his three-pointer with 26.4 seconds left to put UNC up four, and then a trio of free throws in the closing seconds to seal an 81-77 victory over Duke in the Final Four.
"It was crazy, just having the ball in my hands in that position and me knocking it down was just surreal," Love told reporters after the win about his game-clinching shot.
Said UNC head coach Hubert Davis:"One of the things I love about all of our guys is they're always willing to step up. Brady steps up and hits the 3s. Leaky hit a couple of 3s. Armando comes back, sprains his ankle, he comes back in. R.J. sustained us the first half in his distributing throughout the entire game. And then Caleb got off to a little slow start. I took him out. He came back in, and he's always been, all year, one of those guys that has just been willing -- he wants that shot. He's actually looking for that shot.
"And very few guys in that situation are looking for that type of shot. Caleb is one of them. He has the confidence to be able to knock it down."
Love was 8-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from three in the second half. He was 3-for-8 from the field and 0-for-4 from three in the first period.
Down 37-34 at halftime, Love got UNC going in the second half by scoring 10 of Carolina's first 13 points in the opening 4:04. It was two threes, a layup, and a jumper. Like in the UCLA game, Love said it was about taking the ball to the basket first to get things going and then letting his jump shot follow.
"Just getting downhill," Love said. "My teammates and my coaches always tell me that I'm best when I get downhill, so it was working for me, so I just kept doing that and my outside shot wasn't falling as much, so just getting the easy ones, seeing them fall through, it worked out."
Davis added: "The thing that I love about our shooters, not only can they shoot, they shoot good shots. And so our emphasis is to attack the basket... I've always felt working inside/out is the way for successful offensive basketball and that's the way we're going to do it. And tonight we took shots that we needed to take. And Caleb and RJ and Brady stepped up, and also Leaky, stepped up and made shots from 3 and put us in a position to win."
Love started 0-for-5 before he found his rhythm. "If I don't get a good start, coaches tell me to get down and see the ball go through and get some easy ones. My first make was a floater, seeing it go through, it was history then."
In the second half, Love scored with multiple scoop finger rolls and running floaters.
"Coach puts the ball in my or R.J.'s hands and tells us to make a play," Love said. "R.J. and I have been doing it all season. Whoever has the ball, we both made great plays and it just happened to be in my hands, so I made the play. And we came out on top."
Davis carried UNC in the first half. He scored 14 of Carolina's 34 points with mid-range jumpers and threes.
"It's a dynamic duo," Davis said. "Whoever is hot, gets the ball. But at the same time our coaches trust us and put the ball in our hands to make plays and that's what we did tonight. We are both happy for each other's success and are just happy to do it on the biggest stage... It's all about confidence. We uplift each other with positive energy and just tell them to keep shooting and that's what we do."
Once Love gave UNC the 78-74 lead in the final minute, he was tasked with securing the win with free throws, and knocking down 3-of-4 from the line was good enough.
"I was just in a rhythm and to put us in the best position to win, I felt like I need the ball in my hands. I am a great free throw shooter and Coach believes in me to put the ball in my hands and that's what happened," Love said.
It's been clutch Caleb all season, stepping up in the biggest moments when his team needs him the most. The shots against UCLA were vital, his three and free throws against Duke won the game and moved his team within one victory of a seventh NCAA Tournament championship.
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Caleb Love Steps Up Again on Massive Stage - 247Sports
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