By R.L. Bynum
Caleb Love is the last former Carolina player still playing in the postseason after Kennedy Todd-Williams and Ole Miss lost on Monday. Love is one win away from possibly facing the Tar Heels in the West Regional final.
Love’s No. 6 Wildcats (27–8) will take on Clemson at 7:09 p.m. Thursday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. With the win, Arizona will face the winner of the UNC-Alabama game on Saturday, two years after hitting an iconic 3-pointer for Carolina to beat Duke in the Final Four.
“I think it’s a big stage,” Love said. “You want to play in these moments, these big-time games. I dreamed of this as a kid, watching March Madness, wanted to be on the stage and I think I rise to the occasion. Whatever I can do to get the team to win, scoring, rebounding, play-making, whatever I’ve got to do. Defense. That’s what I’m going to try to do.”
Love registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Arizona’s 85–65 first-round win Thursday in Salt Lake City over Long Beach State, with five assists and two steals. Love scored three of Arizona’s 12 3-pointers, which was a school record for an NCAA game.
In Arizona’s 78–68 second-round victory over Dayton, he scored 19 points, five assists, three rebounds, a block, and a steal. Love made five of the Wildcats’ first 10 baskets and scored 13 points 12 minutes into the game.
“I knew he was going to play good,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said of Love. “I knew he had the look. It’s a rough patch for these guys. Caleb’s been through a lot in his career. You hit a rough patch where you start getting accolades and honors and start thinking about things. I knew he had to play through a little bit. I knew today he was going to play good. There was no way he wasn’t going to play good in this game.”
Host Notre Dame eliminated Ole Miss on Monday with a 71–56 victory after Todd-Williams shared the team high with 15 points, her 10th consecutive game scoring in double figures. She added four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
“I think it was just about executing on both ends, getting stops,” Todd-Williams said. “I don’t think we did a good job at getting stops to help with our offense. It’s just something that we have to be better at.”
It was the second consecutive season that Todd-Williams’ season ended with a second-round loss on the home court of a Midwest team after UNC lost at Ohio State last season.
Todd-Williams said at the postgame press conference that she intends to return to Ole Miss next season.
Todd-Williams noted before Monday’s game that the SEC’s play is different than the ACC.
“It’s about the physicality,” she said. “The physicality was super different. It’s just about being a dog out there and just being the tougher team.”
In the first round on Saturday, Todd-Williams collected 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals in a 67–55 Ole Miss victory over Marquette in South Bend, Ind.
Todd-Williams explained why she transferred to Ole Miss.
“I really want to go to the next level, and my vision and myself and this program align with Coach Yo,” Todd-Williams said of Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. “I just really wanted to get better and go further than we did last year, so it was a growth effort for me to just be better than what I was before, and just the commitment that I had to this team and to the coaches and stuff, I just really wanted to be better for the team.”
Two other transfers played in the NCAA tournament and lost in the first round: Texas Tech’s Kerwin Walton and UAB’s Will Shaver.
Walton had nine points and five rebounds but four fouls in 20 minutes of the Red Raiders’ 80–67 first-round loss in Pittsburgh to N.C. State as Texas Tech finished 23–11.
“I remember playing these guys a few times the first couple years at Carolina,” Walton said before the game. “It’s always been animosity between the two schools. But it’s a whole new environment for me, different feeling.”
Shaver had one point in four minutes in UAB’s 69–65 first-round loss in Spokane, Wash., on Friday to San Diego State, with the Blazers finishing 23–12.
Two transfers played in the NIT and lost in the second round: Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia and Virginia Tech’s Tyler Nickel.
Garcia scored 25 points in the Gophers’ 73–72 Tuesday win at Butler. But in Minnesota’s 76–54 loss Sunday at Indiana State, Garcia had six points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. He got in foul trouble, finishing with four fouls in both games as Minnesota finished 19–15.
Nickel had three points in the Hokies’ 74–58 Tuesday home win over Richmond and six points in Saturday’s 71–73 loss at Ohio State. Virginia Tech finished 19–15.
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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