Caleb Love’s career stats against the Duke Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils get one last chance to go up against one of their most prominent rivals on Friday night. While the Arizona Wildcats are a worthy opponent, all attention in Durham will be focused on taking down the former North Carolina Tar Heels guard Caleb Love.

Love spent three seasons with UNC before transferring to Tucson ahead of the 2023-24 season, and he has been a thorn in the side of the Cameron Crazies for years.

He played the villain in two of the biggest games in program history in 2022, scoring 22 points to defeat legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski in his final home game before scoring 28 points in a Final Four victory just a month later over the Blue Devils. He returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium with his new school last November and came away with a win, as he has in five of his eight career games against the Blue Devils.

Love averaged 16.9 points, 4.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 0.8 steals in those games, but if Duke basketball fans want a silver lining, he’s been remarkably ineffective in those outings. He’s made just 11 of his 46 attempts (23.9%) from distance over the last seven meetings, and he’s shot a paltry 29/84 (34.5%) from the floor in the last six. With the fifth-year senior shooting 35.1% this season and making just 26.3% of his 3-pointers, there’s no reason to believe that trend will change on Friday.

No regular-season win can erase the torment Love inflicted on the Blue Devils a few years ago, but it would undeniably be sweet to end the rivalry with one last win.