No. 12 Arizona’s Caleb Love banks in deep buzzer-beater 3 to end 1st half at No. 2 Duke

No. 12 Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love grabbed a missed free throw and jetted down the court to launch a deep, contested 3-pointer ahead of the buzzer. He banked it off the glass and in to end a back-and-forth first half at No. 2 Duke on Friday.

Love, in his second game with the Wildcats after transferring from North Carolina, gave Arizona its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes at 41-33 after six lead changes and seven ties.

Banked in at the buzzer! 🙀 pic.twitter.com/B0TT3RUCQx

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) November 11, 2023

The 6-foot-4 guard blocked a 3-point shot from Duke’s Mark Mitchell on the other end 30 seconds prior, leading to a shot-clock violation. The Wildcats forced three shot-clock violations in the first half of Friday’s marquee matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a gritty defensive effort.

Without the size advantage for many rotations, especially with starting center Oumar Ballo in early foul trouble, Arizona fought to dominate the rebound battle 29-15. The Wildcats scored 10 second-chance points to Duke’s 0.

Duke center Kyle Filipowski shot 4-for-8, but the rest of the Blue Devils finished the half 37.5% from the floor.

Neither team found a rhythm from deep, but the Wildcats got to the paint for 22 points, more than half their point total. All eight Arizona players who checked in recorded a field goal, led by Kylan Boswell’s nine points.

Boswell went up and under for a circus finish between two defenders with 4:25 on the clock.

👀 @BamBam_Boz goes up, under, around and over 3 defenders

We are up 31-28 as we hit the final media TO of the first half.

📺 ESPN2#BearDown pic.twitter.com/crO5KHZ9nA

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 11, 2023

Arizona outlasted Duke in the second half for a 78-73 win.

Follow @AZSports