By Sam Federman

Say the name "Caleb Love" to a college basketball fan, and you'll likely get a complicated reaction.
He was the catalyst offensively behind North Carolina's run to the National Championship game in 2022. He scored 30 points in the Sweet 16 win over UCLA, made the game-winning shot and scored 28 points against Duke to retire Coach K in the Final Four.
Then, he floundered, shooting 5-26 in the national championship, and missing the final shot.
The next year, with all of the expectations of a preseason no. 1 team, he was scapegoated - sometimes fairly, other times unfairly - for North Carolina's disappointing season. He dropped from a 36% outside shooter to 30%, and the Tar Heels missed the tournament.
He then intended to transfer to Michigan, but never made it to campus, instead committing to Arizona and Tommy Lloyd. And for all it's worth, he was incredible in year one, winning the final Pac 12 Player of the Year award, and leading the Wildcats to a 2 seed.
Despite that, he went 0-9 in the Sweet 16 from beyond the arc as Arizona lost by five to Clemson.
It had become a theme, no matter how well he played in a season or a previous game, Love's teams would lose the last game of the season because of a poor performance from Love himself, among other things.
His consistent inconsistency has become a hallmark of his collegiate legacy, and for every rough game, there's a night like Monday in Tucson.
After struggling nearly the entire game against 17-2 Iowa State, Love heaved up a 60-footer at the buzzer to tie the game at the end of regulation, sending it to overtime.
Then, he made back-to-back threes in overtime to lift the Wildcats to a massive home win. He finished with 22 points on 22 shots, but nobody will remember the nine threes that he missed.
Now 8-1 in the Big 12, Arizona has completely flipped the narrative on its season. The Wildcats were 4-5 after a loss to UCLA on Dec. 14, and now sit 14-6 and comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field if the season ended today. Metrically, Arizona is excellent, ranking 14th in KenPom, 11th in the NET, and 8th in BPI. Additionally, none of the Cats' six losses are outside of quadrant 1, and they now have 4 quad 1 wins - and plenty more opportunities to add more - to their resume.