The City of Brotherly Love became the City of Caleb Love on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
The St. Louisan scored a game-high 30 points to lead his North Carolina Tar Heels to a 73-66 victory over UCLA in the East Regional semifinals in Philadelphia. The victory sends the Tar Heels into Sunday’s Elite Eight matchup with tournament Cinderella St. Peter’s on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. The winner earns a berth to the Final Four, which will be held next weekend in New Orleans.
A former prep basketball star at CBC, Love scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half, including eight in the final two minutes against a UCLA team that advanced to the Final Four last season. He made six 3-pointers in the game, including back-to-back triples which turned a 64-61 deficit into a 67-64 lead with one minute left to play. He also sealed the victory with two free throws with seven seconds left in the game.
The 6’4″ Love is averaging 19.3 points a game in the NCAA Tournament. In addition to his 30-point masterpiece against UCLA, he also had 23 points and six 3-pointers in the Tar Heels victory over UCLA in the first round.