Caleb Love nets 2000th career point, leads Arizona over Washington
Caleb Love poured in 28 points to hit exactly 2,000 for his college career and lead Arizona to a 91-75 win over Washington in a Saturday matinee at McKale Center.
Love had 20 of his points in the first half and finished with a dagger 3-pointer with 1:27 left, shooting 9 for 19 overall while hitting 5 of 10 3-pointer snapped 5 of 6 free throws. Love also had seven rebounds and five assists.
Oumar Ballo had his seventh straight double-double, with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Pelle Larsson added 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers.
Arizona shot 47.1% overall while holding Washington to 38.2%.
The win kept the Wildcats (21-6, 12-4) in a loss-column tie with Washington State atop the Pac-12, with WSU scheduled to play ASU later Saturday. The win also kept UA undefeated after a loss in nearly three full seasons under coach Tommy Lloyd.
Washington dropped to 15-13 and 7-10.
Although Arizona held a 17-point lead at halftime and led 61-38 just three minut4es into the second half, the Huskies scored eight straignt points in the middle of the second half to pull within nine points.
Forward Moses Wood hit a 3-pointer on the break after a defensive rebound, cutting UA’s lead to 69-60, prompting a UA timeout. But the Wildcats gradually pulled away again, with a 3-pointer from Larsson and a one-handed dunk from Ballo off a feed from Love helping them take an 82-66 lead with 2:13.
Keshad Jiohnson later drove down the middle past Washington center Wilhelm Briedenbach to dunk but the UA bench was called for technical and UW’s Keion Brooks hit two resulting free throws.
But Love hit a dagger 3 with 1:27 left to give the Wildcats an 87-70 lead and the Wildcats coated form there into a win.
The 3-pointer put Love above the 2,000-point mark for his career, which included three seasons at North Carolina before he transferred to Arizona after last season.
In the first half, Love had 20 points, six rebounds and three assists in the first half to lead Arizona to a 52-35 halftime lead.
The Wildcats, who slipped below Washington State atop the Pac-12 after losing to the Cougars 77-74 on Thursday night, appeared to enjoy the faster tempo and matchup with the Huskies much better than during their tense Thursday night affair.
Arizona shot 52.9% overall in the first half while making 6 of 10 3-pointers, while holding Washington to just 38.5%.
Love shot 6-for-10 overall while making 4 of 5 3-pointers, reaching the 20-point mark in a half for the fourth time this season. Keshad Johnson added 10 points for Arizona while Karen Johnson also had 10 for Washington to lead the Huskies in first-half scoring.
Just over 36 hours after the late Thursday game, the Wildcats energetically took an early 16-7 lead, getting an alley-oop dunk and 3-pointer from Johnson and assists from Love that set up drives to the rim by Larsson for layups.
But Washington later pulled off a 10-0 run to pull within 42-31 when Nate Calmese hit a 3-pointer off the bench for the Huskies with 6:59 left before Arizona managed to carry double-digit leads for the rest of the half. Love and Larsson both hit 3-pointers over the final 85 seconds of the first half.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Caleb Love nets 2000th career point, leads Arizona over Washington
