No. 8 North Carolina got a career-best performance from sophomore guard Caleb Love, beating No. 4 UCLA 73-66 to earn an unexpected promotion to the Elite Eight under first-year coach Hubert Davis.
Love scored 30 points, highlighted by six marks from the 3-point range, to prevent the Bruins from making the Final Four for a second straight season.
After an uneven regular season, the Tar Heels are one of the few teams heating up at the right time — including rival Duke, who are building the potential for an unprecedented Final Four match in the final NCAA tournament of Mike Krzyzewski’s career.
As if his last tournament run needed any more hype and fanfare.
UNC stormed past UCLA in the second half with a hot finish. The Tar Heels went on a 12-2 run in the final 1:40 of the game, reversing the Bruins’ 64-61 lead with a 3-pointer from Love to equalize, another Love bomb for the lead and a layup from von Armando Bacot to advance 66-64 by 15 seconds.
Love was one of four players in double figures, along with forward Armando Bacot (14 points and 15 rebounds), forward Brady Manek (13 points) and guard RJ Davis (12 points). UCLA was led by guard Jules Bernard, who scored 16 points.
The win sends UNC into a matchup with No. 15 Saint Peter’s, who knocked out No. 3 Purdue to become the highest seed to ever reach the Elite Eight.
At one point when they were 12-6 overall and just 4-3 in the ACC, the Tar Heels have won 17 of 20 to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since winning the national championship in 2017.
Follow college reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
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