Love Takes Step Forward

CLEVELAND, OH – The needle moved in the right direction for Caleb Love on Saturday afternoon.

The freshman point guard ran North Carolina’s team more effectively than in recent games and may have turned in his best performance from a management perspective. Six assists and two turnovers in the Tar Heels’ 75-63 victory over Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

And one of the miscues was an offensive foul called 40 feet from the basket with 50 seconds left. The whistle could have been swallowed on that one. So, one ballhandling miscue in 30 minutes of action.

Such as it is, Love took a step forward in handling his most important duty, and that’s running the Tar Heels.

“One of Caleb's turnovers, in fact it was that charging foul over on the opposite side of our bench,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “So, until that point, (he) only had one turnover. That's the biggest thing and he took the ball to the basket, made some big shots, still didn't shoot it in from outside. And I really think he's going to be a really, really good shooter, it's just not going in now."

Love was just 4-for-14 from the field, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, lowering his season numbers to 4-for-30 from beyond the arc. That’s a mind-numbing 13.3 percent. Yet, he is third on the team averaging 11.1 points and leads the Heels with 3.7 assists per game.

Williams insists Love will be an effective shooter in time, but it’s not a stretch suggesting that won’t fall into place until he’s more secure in the other responsibilities that come with running things for the Tar Heels.

Getting after it at the point on defense is crucial, which Love did Saturday, as evidenced by two early hustle plays that resulted in him hitting the floor. It helped set a defensive tone for the Heels, who held UK to only 39.6 percent from the field, including 23.1 percent from perimeter. Carolina also forced more turnovers, 16, to their 11. That stuff starts at the top.

So does UNC’s offense, and Love’s best assist-to-turnover ratio signals better times might be ahead. Though, he understands this is a process, and his pace shouldn’t be compared to anyone else’s who came before him. All freshmen have their own timetables.

"Just constant learning,” Love said. “Doing what coach is telling me to do. I knew they were in foul trouble, I just kept going to the rim, they couldn't stop me. So, I just kept going to the rim, getting easy buckets for my teammates and that was it."

His effort taking it to the Wildcats, along with Carolina’s bruising interior, is a major factor in four Cats fouling out and UK being whistled for 30 fouls on the day. Most of Love’s assists were attached to those calls.

This isn’t to say Love broke out Saturday. Kentucky has some issues, a reason it’s off to its worst start since 1926 owning a 1-5 record and having dropped five consecutive games, and Love still had a wobbly enough performance to indicate he has a long way to go.

None of this is news to him, though. If Love appeared flustered two weeks ago, maybe it’s because he was, but it’s also not a stretch to say he’s navigating through that.

“Obviously, I've been struggling early the first five, six games, but it's just a learning curve,” said Love, who finished with 11 points. “It's always the learning curve for me and I'm always listening to what coach tells me to do.

“We have meetings, one-on-one, watching film and I'm just listening. So, I'm getting better every day. So, that's what it is."

That was apparent Saturday.