**************************************************************************************
***************************************************************************************
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – Sometimes, numbers don’t lie.
And in the case of North Carolina sophomore guard Caleb Love, they reveal quite a bit: When Love plays very well, UNC wins. When he doesn’t, the Tar Heels’ chances at notching a victory are considerably diminished.
The eyes haven’t lied over the first 13 games of the season, either, but numbers simply back that up, and fortify that reality.
The most recent example came in North Carolina’s 91-65 win at Boston College, when Love led UNC with 22 points. Now, the Heels rolled in the game, using a 46-12 run in the first half to take a 49-20 lead at halftime, but Love was still fantastic in the contest.
He was 7-for-11 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from three-point range, he also handed out a pair of assists and didn’t turn over the ball. It was the fourth time he has led Carolina in scoring this season and fifth time he has hit the 22-point mark, which is also his high scoring number for the season.
Five times at 22, and while he wanted to push that number up Sunday, Love understands why Hubert Davis removed him from the game for good with 6:38 remaining and the Heels (10-3, 2-0 ACC) leading by 36 points.
“Yeah, I don’t know what it is,” Love said about finishing with 22 points again. “But I laugh at Coach, I’m like, ‘I was at 22, Coach,” and he took me out. It’s all good, we’ve got to get the young guys some run and it was good to see them out there learning and getting better.”
Love also hit 22 in the opener versus Loyola (MD), at College of Charleston, at home against Michigan, and versus Elon in the Smith Center. Another common trait in those games for Carolina are that they were also wins.
UNC is 5-0 when Love scores 22 points. More noteworthy, however, is that the 6-foot-4, St. Louis native is leading the team in scoring in its 10 wins, averaging 16.5 points per contest, and that includes him registering just four points against UNC-Asheville, a night he attempted only five shots, and 10 points against Furman, when Love was just 3-for-10 from the floor.
Love down enarly four points per outing in UNC's losses, averaging 12.7 per contest. More numbers: In the wins he’s shooting 46.6 percent from the floor, but he’s at 37.5 percent in the defeats; Love has made 47.9 percent of his three-pointers in the wins, but only 28.6 percent in the losses; his assist-turnover ratios in the wins is 3.9/2.2, and in the losses it’s 2.2/3.0.
“It’s just me going (all) in,” Love said Sunday inside BC’s Conte Forum. “I don’t really pay it no mind. You can count on me to compete and be aggressive every game, and if I get those points, I get those points. But I’m just playing to win, that’s all that is. I’m playing to win and playing for my team.”
How’s this for stat lovers: Love leads the Tar Heels in scoring (15.6 ppg), three-pointers (27), assists (46), steals (17), free throws made (42-for-50) and free throw percentage (.840). No Tar Heel has ever led the team in all six of those categories in the same season.
He has been better in year two as a Tar Heel than year one. That is plain for the eyes to see, but also according to the numbers. His coach has a fair explanation for the Love’s improvement.
