PHILADELPHIA — Sophomore guard Caleb Love took a seat at his locker with North Carolina trailing UCLA by three at halftime of their NCAA Tournament matchup. Love had a bad first half offensively, after making his first shot, he missed the next seven and had three points.
Love made eye contact with director of operations Eric Hoots and their non-verbal communication may have changed the course of UNC's season.
Love wore black Jordan 11 shoes in the first half, despite Hoots trying to encourage him not to do so before the game. That particular style was normally the shoe type Love just used in practice, although he has worn them in games before. Most notably, he wore a slightly different version of the black 11s when he scored 22 points in their win at Duke.
Hoots said he prefers Love wear white or Carolina blue shoes to match the uniforms. And Love had a second pair of Jordan 11s that were Carolina blue just sitting there begging to squeak across the Wells Fargo Center court. He'd last worn those shoes when he had 16 points in their Feb. 26 win at N.C. State.
"He was looking at me and I was looking at him and he had the blue, the Pantone shoes underneath his chair," Hoots said. "I looked at him and I just nodded and was like, yes, it's time to put those on. Put the black ones up."
Love took Hoots' advice when he said it's "time for a change." Love emerged in the second half as if the shoes were the heroic costume change he needed to save the Tar Heels from elimination.
Love scored 27 points in the second half — that alone topped his previous career-high of 25 points at Duke last season — and finished with 30 points as Carolina defeated the Bruins 73-66 to advance to the Elite Eight. The Heels will take on No. 15 seed Saint Peter's on Sunday for a chance to advance to the Final Four in New Orleans.
"I think for all of us, we just tried to get out of his way and just let him work," said forward Armando Bacot.
It marked the first time in the program's history that two different players scored 30 or more points in consecutive tournament games. R.J. Davis had 30 points in their overtime win over Baylor.
Love was helpless, watching from the sideline after fouling out in regulation against Baylor. He scored just five points on 1-for-6 shooting against the Bears. He could have been focused on being in a shooting slump after his first half against UCLA. But that's not how Love thinks.
"I never lose my confidence level, coach (Hubert) Davis and my teammates always tell me that," Love said. "I feel like that's the best part of my game is not to lose my confidence level. And when I'm out there, I'm just in a mode, and that's what that was tonight."
UNC coach Hubert Davis said he didn't realize that Love changed shoes, and joked that a raise was in store for Hoots.
"I don't think it was the shoes, I just think that Caleb played really well," Davis said. "One of the things that I said is that — in any game, but specifically in big-time games like this — it has nothing to do with coaching, it's about players just stepping up and making plays. Everybody that played made plays, and Caleb made a lot, especially in the second half."
Love got going by attacking the basket instead of settling for jumpers. His first basket in the second half was a layup on UCLA's 6-foot-7 senior Jules Bernard.
It was all he needed to get going. Love made a 3-pointer and was on his way to shooting 10 for 16 from the field and making five 3-pointers all in the second half.
"When you give a player like that good looks and he starts knocking them down and getting in a rhythm, they can get hot in this tournament," Bernard said. "One hot player can send you home. He's a great player, and he made some tough shots, but I give credit to him."
At one point in the second half, Love scored 12-straight points for Carolina taking the game from tied at 44 to tied at 56.
Davis said Love is probably Carolina's best wing when it comes to creating his own shot. But he sometimes gets in trouble shooting when he abandons going inside and starts off shooting "outside in or outside, outside, outside."
"Coach Davis just wanted me to attack the basket; he feels that I'm best and I'm with him — when I'm going downhill," Love said. "I got a few lay-ups going getting downhill and then the outside shot started to fall. Once you get those, see them go through, your rhythm is there."
Can he keep the rhythm is the question. And will he keep the Carolina blue shoes for Sunday's Elite Eight game against Saint Peter's.
"It's not a thing, his game's the thing," Hoots said. "There's no superstition, that was a one-time thing. He played his tail off. It's not about the shoes, it's a credit to his hard work."
