PHILADELPHIA — In his three halves of basketball prior to Friday night, North Carolina’s Caleb Love had eight points to show for his efforts. He attempted 11 shots and hit two of them.
After halftime Friday, that all changed. At the suggestion of North Carolina director of operations Eric Hoots, Love changed sneakers, and the sophomore guard suddenly erupted.
The basket suddenly looked the size of an ocean, and eighth-seeded North Carolina inched closer to an unexpected Final Four following a hard-fought, 73-66 East Region victory over No. 4-seed UCLA at Wells Fargo Center.
“Hoots told me to change [my sneakers] because I never play good in the black shoes, and it worked out,” Love recalled.
The 6-foot-4 Love scored 27 points after halftime, and finished with a game-high 30, becoming the first Tar Heel since J.R. Reid in 1987 to score that many points in the Sweet 16 or later. He went 10-for-17 after intermission and finished with six made 3-pointers.
Caleb Love goes up for a shot during the second half. USA TODAY Sports
At one point, Love scored 10 straight points to keep the Tar Heels (27-9) in the game, even as the Bruins (27-8) threatened to pull away. And his two consecutive triples turned a three-point deficit into a three-point lead, 67-64, with 1:06 remaining. He also added two clutch free throws in the final seconds to send Hubert Davis’ team into an Elite Eight showdown with Cinderella 15th-seed Saint Peter’s, the lowest seed to advance this far in NCAA Tournament history. It is the Tar Heels’ first trip to a regional final since 2017, when they won the national championship.
“I never lose my confidence level,” said Love, who also had four assists. “Coach Davis and my teammates always tell me that. I feel like that’s the best part of my game is not to lose my confidence level. And when I’m out there, I’m just in a mode, and that’s what that was tonight.”
The Tar Heels have made a 180 degree turn, from teetering on the bubble to running deep into March. They have won 15 of their past 18 games and have taken down two of the top four seeds — No. 1 Baylor and UCLA — in the region.
“Our confidence never wavered,” forward Armando Bacot said. “We knew even back then that we were this good of a team, and we knew if we played at a high level and just really bought into everything, we knew we could make it this far.”
Bacot notched 14 points and 15 rebounds and White Plains, N.Y., native R.J. Davis had 12 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina.
Jules Bernard led UCLA, which was coming off a trip to the Final Four and hoped to return, with 16 points.
