Caleb Love’s 25-point outburst in North Carolina's win at Duke last Saturday was an obvious indicator his game is growing. But there are other examples, too.

Love says everything is slowing down for him, his teammates say he’s managing them in the half court and making better open court decisions, and his coach doesn’t hold back when addressing Love’s potential.

Roy WIlliams said Saturday night Love "can be a great player."

Most elements of the freshman's game are ascending, especially those related to point guard duties.

Over UNC’s first 14 games, Love had five or more assists once, when he handed out six in a win over Kentucky in Cleveland. But he’s had five or more in three of UNC’s last four games. Furthermore, three times Love failed to register an assist through Carolina’s first 13 contests and one time had just a single assist.

He averaged 3.0 assists over the Tar Heels’ initial 14 contests, but is at 4.5 over the last four, and that includes handing out just one in a 63-50 loss last week at Clemson on a night the entire team turned in perhaps its worst performance of the season. He wasn’t alone that night.

The improved assist numbers indicate Love is increasingly connected on the court with his teammates. Love, who is averaging 11.1 points per game this season, acknowledges the game is slowing down, so how has he gotten to this point?

“Just watching a lot of film on myself and watching a lot of film on our opponents, how they play defense,” he said, following UNC’s win over Duke. “So, just seeing myself and seeing where I can pick my spots and pick apart the defense and that just helped me a lot.”

Garrison Brooks has a healthy understanding of what a good point guard looks like. He was a freshman when Joel Berry was a senior for the Tar Heels, the following year he watched Coby White grow into the role and become a lottery pick, and last year he played with Cole Anthony, who is having a solid rookie year in the NBA.

Brooks sees plenty of positives as Love continues learning and developing.

“He’s really good. I think it's just something that he's growing still,” Brooks said. “It was time for him to really just grow up and he's doing that before your eyes. I mean, I can't say that I didn't see it coming, but he's just growing up now and I think it’s great.”

Love is still turning over the ball way too much. It is something Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams harps on every chance he gets. The St. Louis native committed five turnovers against seven assists versus the Blue Devils and also had four turnovers in last week’s at Clemson and five in a win over NC State nearly three weeks ago.

The mistakes are fixable, and seeing how the other parts of his game are coming along, that will down the road, too.

As for those other elements, scoring, and notably shooting, is also on the uptick. Love has even shown some signs of coming around with his shot selection and accuracy.

First of all, the three-point issue appears behind him now. Through the first eight games, Love was 4-for-34 from beyond the arc, but he is 16-for-43 since, which is an acceptable 37.2 percent.

Moreover, the only two games he has converted half or more of his overall field goal attempts have come in Carolina’s last five outings: Love was 7-for-12 with a then-career high 20 points in a win over Wake Forest on Jan. 20, and then this past Saturday at Duke, he was 9-for-16 with 25 points, which tied the highest single-game point total by a Tar Heel this season matching freshman forward Day’Ron Sharpe’s output in a win last month over Notre Dame.

Perhaps most encouraging for the Tar Heels is that while he was a combined 6-for-8 from three-point range in those two games, Love was also 10-for-20 inside the arc, an area he really struggled for much of the season.

“Man, I’m just glad for him,” sophomore forward Armando Bacot said after the Duke game. “I knew he had one of those games coming, he's a great player. He really is. And just to see him doing it on the biggest stage and in probably one of our biggest games this year was just huge for him.

“And hopefully this can carry over with his confidence going later into the season and maybe, hopefully, this is where we see Caleb Love be born.”

Love’s decision making, patience and maturity will be tested Saturday when the Tar Heels visit No. 9 Virginia, a place they have struggled mightily in recent years. UNC has lost six consecutive games at John Paul Jones Arena, failed to hit the 50-point mark on its last three trips, and has averaged only 54.2 points over its last seven times at UVA, spanning back to 2012.

Carolina’s national title team in 2017 managed just 43 points at JPJ.

But no matter who the Heels play, when Love is on his game and growing, the chance at victory is significantly increased.

“When Caleb’s playing good,” Bacot said, “I feel like that changes the whole dynamic of our team.”