Caleb Love leads Arizona to victory over the Samford Bulldogs at McKale Center

Caleb Love scored 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting to help the Arizona Wildcats beat Samford 96-64 on Wednesday at McKale Center.

Given the Bulldogs’ aggressive pressure all over the court, the Wildcats shot 58.2% and committed just four turnovers in the first half. However, in the second half, in which Samford played the Wildcats mostly evenly, they made it nine times.

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd started Anthony Dell’Orso at small forward for the first time this season, while he started 7-foot freshman Emmanuel Stephen for the first time with 2:36 to play. Lloyd had said Tuesday that he would redshirt Stephens because of a foot injury that threatens to sideline projected starter Motiejus Krivas all season.

Love hit 3 of 9 3-pointers and also went to the free throw line far more often than he has all season. Love had made just 12 free throws in the Wildcats’ last nine games, but made eight, all in the first half.

Trey Townsend added 12 points and seven rebounds while Jaden Bradley had 11 points and six assists.

The win moved Arizona back to .500 at 5-5, with one final non-conference game set for Saturday at the McKale Center. Samford fell to 9-3.

Returning home after losing five of their previous seven games, the Wildcats started without many mistakes against the Bulldogs’ aggressive defense and led comfortably after the first 18 minutes, although Samford even let them play in the second half.

Love hit a 3-pointer on UA’s first possession and the Wildcats took a 13-9 lead after making 5 of 9 shots and providing an assist each. They also didn’t turn the ball over once in that span.

Arizona had a 23-point lead at halftime but dropped its lead to 14 in the first six minutes of the second half after Samford scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer from Collin Holloway.

But Samford outscored the Wildcats by four points in the first 16 minutes of the second half, with UA committing six turnovers in a three-minute span late in the half, helping the Bulldogs get under 20 points with just under five minutes left.

Love scored a potential 18 points in the first half on Wednesday, helping the Wildcats to a 56-33 halftime lead.

Arizona played the kind of efficient, free-flowing offense that has eluded them most of the season, shooting 61.3% and turning the ball over just four times in the first half against Samford’s aggressive defense.

The Bulldogs scored just two points on UA’s four turnovers, while the Wildcats instead scored 12 points on Samford’s six turnovers.

Love scored his 17 points by hitting 5 of 7 shots from the field (2 of 4 from 3-point range) and reaching the finish line eight times, a season high. He made 6 of 8 free throws.

Anthony Dell’Orso added eight points in his first start of the season despite being just 1 of 6 from 3-point range, while Trey Townsend contributed eight points and four rebounds.

Dell’Orso started at small forward where UA coach Tommy Lloyd used KJ Lewis early in the season and then freshman Carter Bryant for the Wildcats’ final three games.

Samford’s Isaiah West hit a 3-pointer to pull the Bulldogs within 10-9 with 16:45 left in the first half, and Collin Holloway hit another later to cut UA’s lead to 16-15 , but the Wildcats prevailed from there.

UA scored eight straight points, the last two when Trey Townsend sank an offensive rebound after Anthony Dell’Orso’s missed three-pointer. The Wildcats went on a 23-6 run that gave them a 39-21 lead with 5:52 left after Love hit another 3-pointer at the break.

Before the game, Arizona held a ceremony to name former guard TJ McConnell to its Ring of Honor for his 10 NBA seasons. After helping the Wildcats to back-to-back Elite Eights in 2014 and 2015, McConnell went undrafted in 2015 but has played a key role for the 76ers and Pacers since then.

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Caleb Love leads Arizona to victory over the Samford Bulldogs at McKale Center

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