By R.L. Bynum
Caleb Love had a memorable senior night at Arizona as the Wildcats won their final Pac-12 home game, and Puff Johnson scored a career-high 19 points in his first start in 11 games in a Penn State loss.
After scoring 36 points in No. 6 Arizona’s Jan. 27 win at Oregon, Love collected 22 points and seven assists in the Wildcats’ 87–78 victory Saturday over the Ducks.
Love, who scored three 3-pointers, scored seven consecutive points during an early 12–2 run for Arizona (23–6, 14–4 Pac-12). His alley-oop pass to fellow senior Keshad Johnson gave the Wildcats a 48–25 lead with 1:48 left in the first half.
Love had eight points during a 12–3 Arizona run, capped by a windmill dunk with 5:59 left that stretched Arizona’s lead to 94–67.
It was his eighth career game with at least seven assists and his second this season (his career-high was nine for UNC against Northeastern on Feb. 17, 2021).
Arizona holds a half-game lead atop the Pac-12 over No. 19 Washington State (23–7, 14–5).
Johnson was in the Penn State starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 13, but the Nittany Lions lost 75–70 on the road against Dawson Garcia and Minnesota (18–11, 9–9 Big Ten). Johnson scored 14 points and four 3-pointers in the first half as the Nittany Lions (14–16, 8–11) led 42–30 at halftime.
Garcia had only eight points and five rebounds in eight minutes for the Gophers, who trailed by 23 points in the first half and by 12 in the second half before rallying. Garcia, who could play a fifth season, did not participate in Minnesota’s senior day activities.
Johnson topped his previous best scoring game of 16 points on Jan. 26, 2022, in a win at N.C. State. He scored a career-high four 3-pointers, topping his previous high of three twice earlier this season.
D’Marco Dunn came off the Penn State bench for the first time since the Jan. 27 loss to Minnesota and had two points in 12 minutes.
Johnson, Dunn and Garcia were all members of the 2021–22 UNC Final Four team, although Garcia left the program in January of that season.
Dontrez Styles collected 12 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 5:52 left in Georgetown’s 98–93 home loss to Xavier after blowing a 15-point lead.
The Hoyas (9–20, 2–16 Big East), who will be the No. 10 seed in the Big East tournament, lost their seventh consecutive home game.
Styles, whose 3-pointer gave the Hoyas an early 17–11 lead, has fouled out of four games this season.
Kennedy Todd-Williams and Destiny Adams both scored 14 points on Sunday.
Todd-Williams also had six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in her senior day game at Ole Miss, an 87–43 victory over Arkansas.
Adams added six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in Rutgers’ 72–71 home loss to Northwestern.
Justin McKoy had 10 points, nine rebounds and two assists in Hawaii’s 76–73 home win over the UC Riverside team that UNC beat 77–52 on Nov. 17. The Rainbow Warriors (17–13, 9–9 Big West) are fifth in the 11-team Big West.
Kerwin Walton had three points and three rebounds in 20 minutes in Texas Tech’s 81–70 win at West Virginia on Saturday. The Red Raiders (20–9, 9–7 Big 12) are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 with No. 7 Kansas and BYU.
Host Virginia Tech upset Wake Forest on Saturday 87–76, but Tyler Nickel went scoreless for the second time in three games, going 1 of 17 from the floor in those games. Since scoring 14 points at UNC on Feb. 17 and 13 against Virginia on Feb. 19, his only three points came in a loss at Syracuse on Feb. 27.
Will Shaver went scoreless with a block in four minutes of UAB’s 106–87 loss Sunday at Memphis.
Checking in on 11 former Heels
Destiny Adams, Rutgers forward
6–3 | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
77–69 Wednesday, March 6, loss vs. Minnesota in first round of Big Ten tournament — Started; 38 minutes, 31 points, 12–24 FG, 0–1 3FG, 7–12 FT, career-high 24 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers, 1 block, 1 steal, -11, 16.7 game score
Season statistics — 32 games, 32 starts, 15.6 points, 50.1 FG%, 1–8 3FG, 68.3 FT%, 7.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 of a block
Record — 8–24; season over
D’Marco Dunn, Penn State guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
61–59 Thursday, March 13, loss vs. Indiana in second round of Big Ten tournament — Didn’t start; 25 minutes, 9 points, 2–5 FG, 1–2 3PFG, 2 rebounds, 1 foul, -11, 4.9 game score
Season statistics — 33 games, 12 starts; 6.8 points, 39.5 FG%, 36.6 3P%, 73.8 FT%, 1.8 rebounds, 0.6 of an assist
Record — 16–17; season over
Dawson Garcia, Minnesota forward
6–11, 230 pounds | Junior | UNC 2020–21 (part of 1 season)
73–72 Tuesday win at Butler in the first round of the NIT — Started; 34 minutes, 25 points, 11–19 FG, 1–4 3FG, 2–2 FT, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 turnovers
76–64 Sunday loss at Indiana State in the second round of the NIT — Started; 28 minutes, 6 points, 2–5 FG, 2–2 FT, 12 rebounds, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks
Season statistics — 31 games, 31 starts; 17.6 points (led team), 48.6 FG%, 31.9 3P%, 80.2 FT%, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 block
Record — 19–15; season over
Puff Johnson, Penn State wing
6–8, 205 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
61–59 Thursday, March 13, loss vs. Indiana in second round of Big Ten tournament — Started; 31 minutes, 16 points, 4–11 FG, 2–6 3PFG, 7–7 FT, 8 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 steals, -5, 12.1 game score
Season statistics — 29 games, 12 starts; 7.3 points, 42.2 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 78.5 FT%, 3.1 rebounds, 0.7 of a steal
Record — 16–17; season over
Caleb Love, Arizona guard
6–4, 205 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
85–65 Thursday win over Long Beach State in the first round of NCAA tournament quarterfinals in Salt Lake City — Started; 34 minutes, 18 points, 6–17 FG, 3–12 3FG, 3–5 FT, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 2 steals, +24, 18.0 game score
78–68 Saturday win vs. Dayton in the second round of NCAA tournament in Salt Lake City — Started; 35 minutes, 19 points, 6–15 FG, 3–8 3FG, 4–6 FT, 3 rebounds, 1 foul, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 1 block 1 steal, +6, 11.8 game score
Season statistics — 35 games, 35 starts; 18.1 points (leads team), 41.8 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 83.6 FT%, 4.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals
Record — 27–8; Rank — No. 6; Next game — 7:09 Thursday vs. Clemson in NCAA Sweet 16 in Los Angeles, CBS
Justin McKoy, Hawaii guard
6–8, 230 pounds | Graduate student | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
68–65 Friday, March 15, loss vs. UC Davis in semifinals of Big West tournament — Started; 33 minutes, 10 points, 3–11 FG, 0–3 3FG, 4–4 FT, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 fouls, -9, 1.6 game score
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 12.4 points, 47.4 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 87.2 FT%, 6.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Record — 20–14; season over
Tyler Nickel, Virginia Tech guard
6–7, 225 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
74–58 Tuesday win vs. Richmond in the first round of NIT — Didn’t start; 17 minutes, 3 points, 1–1 FG, 1–1 FT, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 foul, +2, 3.3 game score
81–73 Saturday loss at Ohio State in the second round of NIT — Didn’t start; 12 minutes, 6 points, 2–7 FG, 2–4 3PFG, 2 fouls, 1 turnover, -9, 0.1 game score
Season statistics — 34 games, 7 starts; 8.8 points, 43.8 FG%, 39.9 3P%, 82.0 FT%, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Record — 19–15; season over
Will Shaver, UAB center
6–10, 270 pounds | Redshirt sophomore | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
69–65 Friday loss vs. San Diego State in the first round of NCAA tournament in Spokane, Wash. — 4 minutes, 1 point, 1–2 FT, -4, 0.6 game score
Season statistics — 18 games, 87 minutes, 20 points, 6–17 FG, 0–2 3FG, 8–16 FT, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal
Record — 23–12; season over
Dontrez Styles, Georgetown wing
6–6, 212 pounds | Junior | UNC 2021–23 (2 seasons)
74–56 Wednesday, March 13, loss vs. Providence in first round of Big East tournament — Started; 35 minutes, 7 points, 3–7 FG, 0–3 3FG, 1–5 FT, 9 rebounds, 1 assists, 3 fouls, 2 turnovers
Season statistics — 32 games, 32 starts, 12.8 points, 43.0 FG%, 36.8 3P%, 77.6 FT%, 5.8 rebounds, 0.8 of an assist, 0.6 of a block
Record — 9–23; season over
Kennedy Todd-Williams, Ole Miss guard
6–0 | Senior | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
67–55 Saturday win vs. Marquette in South Bend, Ind., in first round of NCAA tournament — Started; 35 minutes, 15 points, 5–13 FG, 2–4 3FG, 3–6 FT, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 foul, 2 steals, +15, 12.2 game score
71–56 Monday loss at Notre Dame in the second round of NCAA tournament — Started; 33 minutes, 15 points, 5–12 FG, 1–6 3FG, 4–4 FT, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 fouls, 3 steals, -12, 9.4 game score
Season statistics — 33 games, 25 starts; 10.6 points, 38.4 FG%, 26.7 3PFG%, 78.0 FT%, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals
Record — 24–9; season over
Kerwin Walton, Texas Tech guard
6–5, 200 pounds | Senior | UNC 2020–22 (2 seasons)
80–67 Thursday loss to N.C. State in Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament — Started; 20 minutes, 9 points, 3–5 FG, 3–4 3PFG, 5 rebounds, 4 fouls, -2, 8.2 game score
Season statistics — 32 games, 25 starts, 8.4 points, 49.5 FG%, 47.0 3P%, 72.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 0.5 of an assist
Record — 23–11; season over
Photo via @ArizonaMBB
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