2021-22 Men's Basketball Roster
Caleb Love
- Height:
- 6-4
- Weight:
- 195
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- St. Louis, Mo.
- High School:
- Christian Brothers College
CAREER
Scored 1,476 points, made 200 threes and had 337 assists in 101 games • Averaged 14.6 points, 2.0 threes and 3.3 assists • Third in UNC history in three-point attempts (630), eighth in three-pointers (200), 18th in free throw percentage (.815) and 35th in UNC career scoring • Made at least one three-pointer in 86 games, including a UNC-record 45 consecutive games, a streak that began last season and ended on January 14, and 59 of the last 61 games • Scored his 1,000th point in his 73rd game, the fewest games needed by a Tar Heel since Harrison Barnes hit the mark in his 61st game in 2012 • Carolina went 21-5 when he scored 20 or more points, 26-3 when he had five or more assists, 16-3 when he shot 50% from the floor and 39-19 when he hit multiple 3FGs • Career-high 34 points vs. Alabama on 11/27/22, nine rebounds twice, nine assists on 2/17/21 vs. Northeastern and six 3FGs four times • Scored in double figures 79 times (UNC 55-24) • Made 40 consecutive free throws in February-March 2022, the second-longest streak in UNC history.
JUNIOR SEASON (2022-23)
Honorable mention All-ACC for the second year in a row • Led the Tar Heels and was fifth in the ACC with a career-high 16.7 points per game • Scored in double figures in 30 of 33 games (last 18 in a row) with a career-high of 34 vs. Alabama • Scored 20 or more points 11 times (UNC 6-5) • Led UNC with 73 threes and was second with 94 assists • Made a three in 31 of 33 games with a season-high six vs. Clemson and four or more six times • Carolina went 5-2 when he had five or more assists and 10-4 when he had more assists than turnovers • Averaged a team-high 35.7 minutes per game, fourth most in the ACC.
2022-23 Game Highlights: Game-high 22 points vs. Boston College in the ACC Tournament, his fourth career postseason game with 20 or more points • Scored 14 of his 16 points and made three 3FGs in the first half as UNC raced to a 42-26 lead at Florida State • Scored 14 of his 16 points and hit UNC’s only two three-pointers in the second half in the win at Notre Dame • Made all four of his free throws in the final six seconds in a one possession game • Made 4 of 8 three-pointers at NC State and led UNC with 23 points • Season-high and career-high tying six threes (6 for 9) and game-high 23 points in the 91-71 win over Clemson • Made 7 of 12 field goals vs. the Tigers, his best percentage (.583) in an ACC game this season (min. 10 attempts) and best 3FG% by a Tar Heel all season • Made three 3FGs in each half • Scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half at Wake Forest • Was 0 for 9 from the floor in the first half and 9 for 16 in the second half • The 25 FG attempts were the most by a Tar Heel in a 40-minute game since 2001 • Made four threes (14th time in his career he made four or more 3FGs) • Tied his season high with four threes and scored a game-high 22 points in the home loss to Pittsburgh • Helped Carolina lead the entire first half by making his first three 3FG attempts and finished with 15 points and five assists in the win at Syracuse • Scored 13 of his 16 in the second half in the win over NC State • Made a season-best 9 of 10 free throws • Second game without a turnover this season (The Citadel was the other) • Three-pointer with 5:21 to play ended an 8-0 Boston College run and gave UNC a 59-55 lead • Career-high five steals but school-record 45-game streak with a three ended (0 for 7) at Louisville • Made three 3FGs and scored 18 points vs. Notre Dame (scored a combined 14 in the previous two games) • Scored 19 of his 22 points vs. Ohio State after halftime (four in overtime) and had a game-high and season-best seven assists • Opened the scoring in overtime with a driving layup, giving UNC the lead for good • Scored five straight points after OSU built a 10-point lead with less than seven minutes to play in regulation • Made 6 of 10 from the floor, including 4 of 6 threes and had game highs with 17 points and six assists vs. The Citadel • Earned all-tournament honors in the PKI Invitational • Career-high 34 points (16 in the second half) on 13 of 36 shooting plus nine rebounds and three steals in 57 minutes against Alabama • Scored 16 first-half points and finished with 23 points and three steals vs. Portland • Made 10 of 15 from the floor vs. the Pilots, the best single-game field goal percentage of his career (.667) • Scored 17 second-half points and finished with 25 points, a career-high nine rebounds and six assists in 102-86 win over Charleston.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2021-22)
Averaged 18.8 points in the 2022 NCAA Tournament • Tied Brady Manek for the most points by any players in the tournament • Three highest scoring games of the season came in the NCAA Tourney (30 vs. UCLA, 28 vs. Duke, 23 vs. Marquette) • Earned All-Final Four and All-East Regional honors • Honorable mention All-ACC • UNC’s Co-Most Improved Player (Danny Green Award) • Scored 621 points, becoming the eighth Tar Heel sophomore to score 600 in a season (joining Michael Jordan, Joseph Forte, Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, Harrison Barnes, Wayne Ellington) • Led UNC free throw percentage (.863), was second in scoring (15.9), three-pointers (93), assists (139) and steals (37) and is third in three-point percentage (.360) • Top 10 in the ACC in scoring (9th), assists (10th), free throw percentage (3rd) and three-pointers (7th) • Made 93 three-pointers, tied for the sixth most in a season by a Tar Heel, including 19 in the NCAA Tournament, tied for third most in UNC’s NCAA Tournament history • Made 40 consecutive free throws from 2/16-3/11, the second-longest streak in UNC history (one off Jeff Lebo’s 1989 record) and the 10th-longest streak in ACC history • Led UNC in scoring 12 times (UNC 11-1) • Scored 20 or more points 13 times (UNC 13-0) with a high of 30 in the Sweet 16 vs. UCLA • Averaged 17.4 points, shot 39.9% from three and had 114 assists/76 turnovers in UNC’s wins and 11.7 ppg, 23.3 3FG%, 25 assists/30 turnovers in the losses • Made multiple three-pointers 27 times (UNC 23-4) • Career-high six threes vs. Florida State, Marquette and UCLA • More assists than turnovers 24 times (UNC 20-4) • UNC was 14-0 when he had five or more assists • Averaged a team-high 34.1 minutes.
2021-22 Game Highlights
Had one of the all-time clutch performances by a Tar Heel in the second half of the NCAA semifinal win over Duke, making nine of his last 11 shots from the field and scoring 22 second-half points • Tied his career high with 11 field goals • Scored 10 points in a 13-0 Tar Heel run to go from seven points down to leading by six early in the second half • Twice he scored on drives to retake a one-point lead • Three-pointer with 24 seconds to play gave UNC a 78-74 lead • The 28 points were the most in the Final Four by a Tar Heel since James Worthy had 28 vs. Georgetown in New Orleans in the ‘82 final.
Scored 12 first-half points vs. Saint Peter’s in the regional final • Career-high 30 points and six threes vs. UCLA in the Sweet 16 • Made five threes and scored 27 of his 30 points in the second half • Most points in a half by a Tar Heel since Luke Maye had 27 in the second at NC State in 2018 • Scored 27 of UNC’s 45 second-half points • Was 1 for 8 from the floor in the first half and 10 for 16 in the second • Scored 20 of UNC’s last 29 points • Three-pointer tied the game at 64 with 1:48 to play and one on next possession with 1:03 remaining gave UNC the lead for good • Hit both free throws for a two-possession lead with seven seconds to play • Hit six first-half threes and scored 21 points to stake UNC to a 28-point lead vs. Marquette • The six threes tied the UNC record for threes in an NCAA Tournament game (with Shammond Williams vs. Charlotte in 1998 and Marcus Paige vs. Indiana in 2016).
Made all 12 of his free throw attempts and finished with 21 points, five assists and only one turnover in 38 minutes in the win at No. 4 Duke • Tied the third-best FT shooting performance by an opponent in Cameron Indoor Stadium history • Scored 14 of his 21 and had four assists and no turnovers in the second half • Made a three-pointer after Duke took a 61-56 lead and had three assists that led to layups or dunks in the final seven minutes • First Tar Heel in 20 years to score 20 points in consecutive games at Duke • Scored 14 of his 21 points in the final 2:23 of regulation and overtime in win over Syracuse • After starting the game 1 of 8 from three, hit a pair of go-ahread threes with 2:23 and 7.2 seconds to play in the second half and another 1:10 into overtime to give UNC a five-point lead • Clinched the win with a three-point play with 54 seconds left in OT • Layup with 37 seconds to play and two free throws with 19 seconds left secured home win over Louisville • Played his best all-around game in the win at Virginia Tech with game highs in points (21) and assists (7), 6 for 6 from the line in the final minute and only two turnovers • Helped limit VT to 19.2% from three and a season-low 57 points at home • Made career-high six threes in eight attempts and led UNC in scoring and assists (6) vs. Florida State • Made five threes in the first half as UNC built a 38-point lead over the Seminoles • Go-ahead three with 36 seconds to play, then drove and dished an assist to Manek for the game-winning basket with 3.1 seconds to play in the 79-77 win at Clemson • Scored 14 of his 16 points and had five assists in the second half and overtime in the win at Louisville • Opened the extra period with a three and made 5 of 6 free throws in OT (was 9 for 10 FT for the game) • Scored 13 second-half points and had game highs in points (22) and assists (5) in home win over Virginia Tech • Four 3FGs and scored game-high 22 at Boston College • Complete game at Georgia Tech, scoring 17 points with six rebounds, five assists and three steals • Scored 12 of his game-high 22 points and had all four of his game-high assists in the second half in the win over No. 24 Michigan • Tied then-career highs in field goals (9) and three-pointers (4) vs. the Wolverines • Scored 18 second-half points in the win at Charleston • Led all scorers with 22 points in opener vs. Loyola.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2020-21)
ACC All-Freshman team • Led UNC in assists (104) and was second in scoring (10.5 per game), steals (34) and three-pointers (34) • Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week (for his play against Wake Forest/NC State and at Duke) • One of three players to win Freshman of the Week multiple times and the only player to do twice during conference play • Led UNC in scoring five times (UNC went 4-1 in those games) • Averaged 11.8 ppg in UNC’s 18 wins • Scored in double figures 16 times with a high of 25 at Duke • Scored in double figures in six of the last seven games • Season-high four three-pointers at Duke • Made 13 threes in the last six games • Had more assists than turnovers in 14 games • Season-high nine assists vs. Northeastern and an ACC-best seven in both games against Duke • Was ninth in the ACC in assists in league play • Led the team in field goal and three-point attempts • Took 90 more field goal attempts than any other Tar Heel • Made at least 50 percent of his field goal attempts four times (Wake Forest, Duke twice and Louisville) • Second on the team in free throw percentage (.808) • Shot 82.1 percent from the FT line in the 18 wins.
First turnover-free game against Wisconsin in the NCAA first round • One of four UNC freshmen to score in double figures (15), made three 3FGs and had a season-best A/TO ratio of 6/1 in the ACC Tourney win over Notre Dame • Scored 18 points, had seven assists and led a Tar Heel offense that shot 55.4 percent from the floor and totaled 91 points in the 91-73 win over Duke • Became first Tar Heel to score at least 18 points and have seven assists in two games against Duke in the same season • Hit two threes in the first half as UNC raced out to a 22-point lead, then scored 10 of his 18 in the second half • Had three second-half steals, made 6 of 6 FTs and scored eight of his 12 points in the second half in the win over Florida State • Season-high nine assists vs. Northeastern (most by a Tar Heel all season) • Game and season highs in points (25), field goals (9), assists (7) and three-pointers (4) at Duke – first Tar Heel ever to score 25 and have seven assists at Duke (and the third Tar Heel with Charlie Scott and Phil Ford to do that vs. Duke in any game) • Was 5 for 8 FG, including 3 for 4 from three, and scored 15 points with six assists in the second half at Duke • Scored 10 of UNC’s final 22 points (and had two assists), including a driving layup with 3:46 to play that broke a 79-all tie and a three-pointer with 1:54 left that extended UNC’s lead to seven • Made both free throws with 0:58 remaining to give UNC an 87-83 lead • Won his first defensive player of the game award at Clemson • Season-best assist/turnover ratio in the win at Pittsburgh, when he had five assists and only one turnover • Led UNC offense that shot 60.7 percent in the second half and 52.5 for the game • Three-pointer with 2:59 to play halted a 15-4 Panther run that cut UNC’s lead from 16 to five and proved to be the final field goal of the game for either team • Scored eight points and had four assists in the first half as UNC built a 10-lead in its win over NC State (finished with 15 points, his third straight game in double figures) • Season-high 20 points against Wake Forest (became the second Tar Heel to score 20 in a game in 2020-21) • Made a season-best 7 for 12 from the floor (first time better than 50 percent), including 2 for 3 from three • Committed two turnovers in the first five minutes vs. the Deacons, then did not commit another until there were 28 seconds to play • Key three with seconds to play in the first half that sent UNC to intermission trailing by just two • Season-high three 3FGs at Florida State • Scored 11 points vs. the Seminoles, his first double-figure scoring effort since 12/22 at NC State • Three-pointer from the left wing with 1:42 to play cut Miami’s lead to one in UNC’s 67-65 win • Three-pointer with 7:16 to play came just after Notre Dame built a seven-point lead, the Irish’s largest of the second half, and started a 9-0 Tar Heel run • Made two 3FGs at Georgia Tech, his first threes in four games • Matched his season-high six assists and had his best A/TO ratio (6:2) since the season opener in the win over Kentucky • Scored nine of his 12 points, handed out all four of his assists and had two steals in the second half in the win over NC Central • Scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half vs. Stanford • Blocked three shots against UNLV • Became the eighth freshman to start at the point in Roy Williams’ 18 seasons at UNC • Led UNC with 17 points vs. Charleston • Went 8 for 8 from the free throw line, the best performance ever by a Tar Heel in his first game (Danny Green went 6 for 6 as a freshman in the 2005-06 opener vs. Gardner-Webb) • Became the seventh UNC freshman point guard to play 25 or more minutes in his first game (with Phil Ford, Kenny Smith, Ed Cota, Raymond Felton, Marcus Paige and Cole Anthony) • His 17 points are the second most among those seven players (Anthony had 34 in 2019-20) and he is the only player with only one turnover (Kenny Smith had two vs. Missouri in the 1982-83 opener).
PREP
The 2020 Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Missouri • Also the Mr. Show-Me Basketball and Class 5 Player of the Year by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association • Selected to play in the 2020 McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic, Iverson Classic and Nike Hoop Summit • First-team all-state and two-time conference player of the year • St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Metro Player of the Year • Played for Coach Justin Tatum (the father of Boston Celtic Jayson Tatum) at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis • Led the school to the 2020 state semifinals before the season was cut short due to the pandemic • As a senior, averaged 26.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists • Scored a career-best 42 points as a senior against East St. Louis High School, the defending Illinois 3A state champions • That was one of three 40-point games • As a junior, led Christian Brothers to the state finals while averaging 19.4 points • Second player from Christian Brothers to earn McDonald’s All-America honors (first since Larry Hughes, who played at Saint Louis University, in 1997) • Joined Hughes as the only players in school history to surpass 2,000 career points • Helped Christian Brothers win four district and two conference titles • Took part in minicamps for the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team.
PERSONAL
Born Caleb Khristopher Love on Sept. 27, 2001, in St. Louis, Mo. • Son of Dennis Love and Alecia Thompson • His dad played college football • Honors student • Also played football, bowls and plays mini-golf • Majoring in exercise and sport science in the sport administration program.
